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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rash — a series
  3. spell — letters
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. spell — a short time
  6. land — to come down
  7. rash — hasty
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. spell — magic
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wake — a trail
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. kid — child
  16. file — a line of people
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. file — a document
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stem — to come from
  23. land — a country
  24. file — a 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