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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cap — a lid
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. band — a ring
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. spell — magic
  12. wake — a trail
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — to tease
  16. club — for dancing
  17. rash — a series
  18. band — a music group
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. fork — in a road
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. kid — child

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