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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. row — to paddle
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. spring — of water
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. band — a music group
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — the season
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a cake
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bat — the animal
  23. roll — a list
  24. row — a line

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