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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rush — hurry
  3. net — for catching
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. spell — a short time
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. wound — an injury
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. net — in sport
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. net — after costs
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. ball — a dance
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — thin
  19. spell — magic
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. ball — a great time
  24. lean — to rest against

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