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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — magic
  4. rock — a stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. root — of a plant
  8. kick — in football
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. root — the cause
  14. pit — in a race
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. root — of a word
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rock — music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bat — the animal
  24. row — a line

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