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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 dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pop — music
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spell — letters
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rule — a law
  14. spell — magic
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. spell — a short time
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. hand — help
  20. pop — soda
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rule — government
  24. hand — part of the body

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