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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spell — letters
  4. spring — a coil
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. spring — of water
  7. rash — a series
  8. march — the month
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. file — a tool
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. rash — hasty
  13. file — a line of people
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — in music
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. march — music
  21. file — a document
  22. scale — size or range
  23. spring — the season
  24. spell — a short time

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