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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a line of people
  4. net — after costs
  5. file — a tool
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. net — in sport
  9. rash — hasty
  10. spell — magic
  11. net — for catching
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. fall — to drop
  15. hand — help
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. rash — a series

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