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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 120 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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. root — of a plant
  3. dip — to sink
  4. object — to protest
  5. rest — a break
  6. wound — an injury
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spell — a short time
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. spell — magic
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. object — an aim
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. root — of a word
  18. root — the cause
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a music group
  21. rest — what's left
  22. object — a thing
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wind — moving air

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