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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spring — the season
  3. fine — all right
  4. spell — magic
  5. fine — high quality
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com