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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. spell — letters
  5. bound — obliged
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kick — in football
  9. chest — a box
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spell — magic
  13. land — ground
  14. bound — certain
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. land — a country
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. land — to come down
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ground — crushed
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bound — tied together
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. bat — for baseball

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