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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — child
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spell — magic
  7. sharp — clever
  8. root — the cause
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. root — of a word
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spell — a short time
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bat — the animal
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. wound — an injury
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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