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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spell — magic
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. band — a ring
  17. date — the fruit
  18. pound — a weight
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — a short time
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. wound — an injury
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. pound — to hit hard

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