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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 124 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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. spell — a short time
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. clip — for paper
  7. spell — magic
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — to wash
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — letters
  12. shower — rain
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fine — all right
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. fine — high quality
  17. clip — a video
  18. racket — for tennis

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