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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. spell — a short time
  5. plane — a tool
  6. spell — letters
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. ground — a position
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. spell — magic
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ground — the earth
  16. lean — thin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. capital — money
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. capital — a city
  24. mouse — the animal

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