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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 124 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — rain
  5. spell — letters
  6. cell — in biology
  7. clip — a video
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cue — a signal
  10. cue — a hint
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wind — moving air
  14. drill — the tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wind — moving air
  18. drill — a practice
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — for paper
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — to wash
  23. cue — for pool
  24. spell — magic

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