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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. rest — a break
  3. land — to come down
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rest — what's left
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. spell — magic
  11. rest — what's left
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. drill — army training
  15. capital — a city
  16. drill — a practice
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. wake — a trail
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cell — in biology
  23. prune — to trim
  24. drill — the tool

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