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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. hand — in cards
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. spell — letters
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. spell — magic
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. bat — the animal
  17. rock — a stone
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bulb — of a plant

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