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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. key — in music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. bore — to tire
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. bore — to drill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. file — a document
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — the most important part
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. file — a tool
  20. key — for a lock
  21. wind — moving air
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wind — moving air

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