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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. root — of a word
  6. race — a contest
  7. snap — to click
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. scale — in music
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cue — a signal
  12. race — humankind
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spell — magic
  15. field — for sport
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cue — a hint
  19. root — the cause
  20. field — a subject
  21. fork — in a road
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cue — for pool
  24. field — farmland

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