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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 120 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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. 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. ball — a round shape
  2. season — of the year
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. shower — rain
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spell — letters
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. season — in sport
  13. bat — the animal
  14. ball — a great time
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. plane — a tool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. spell — magic
  23. pitch — completely
  24. 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