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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. march — the month
  6. spell — letters
  7. drill — army training
  8. spell — a short time
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. game — a match
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. cold — not warm
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. drill — the tool
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. game — a kind of play

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