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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spell — magic
  4. spring — of water
  5. bore — to tire
  6. march — music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. march — the month
  9. net — in sport
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — a company
  12. firm — steady
  13. spring — the season
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. mine — for digging
  16. spell — a short time
  17. net — after costs
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. net — for catching
  20. bore — to drill
  21. scale — size or range
  22. spring — a coil
  23. march — the month
  24. scale — in music

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