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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. net — after costs
  3. spell — letters
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. file — a tool
  6. net — in sport
  7. last — final
  8. net — for catching
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. file — a line of people
  15. spell — a short time
  16. fall — to drop
  17. file — a document
  18. fall — the season
  19. last — finally
  20. squash — the sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fork — in a road

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