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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — a short time
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. mate — a friend
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mark — a grade
  13. kid — to tease
  14. shower — to wash
  15. spring — the season
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a partner
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fine — all right
  20. mark — a trace
  21. spell — letters
  22. cell — in biology
  23. spring — of water
  24. fine — a penalty

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