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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. kid — child
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. stock — goods
  9. wound — an injury
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. kid — to tease
  12. file — a line of people
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a document
  16. stock — shares
  17. wake — a trail
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. spell — magic
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spell — a short time
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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