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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. land — a country
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — a tin
  13. land — to come down
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. spring — the season
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — of water
  21. spell — magic
  22. land — ground
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. can — to be able to

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