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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. rest — a break
  3. cell — a phone
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. rest — what's left
  7. craft — boats
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. field — for sport
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — a subject
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. field — farmland
  22. rest — what's left
  23. tear — from crying
  24. craft — a skill

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