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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pop — to visit
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. spell — magic
  10. pop — soda
  11. spell — letters
  12. spell — a short time
  13. file — a document
  14. last — to go on
  15. land — to come down
  16. file — a tool
  17. track — a path
  18. pop — music
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. file — a line of people
  21. track — a song
  22. track — to keep track
  23. last — finally
  24. last — final

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