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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. spell — letters
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spell — magic
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spell — a short time
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. row — a line
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. hide — to keep secret

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