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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 116 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spell — magic
  9. mine — for digging
  10. firm — a company
  11. firm — steady
  12. spell — letters
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wax — to grow
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. firm — decided
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. spell — a short time
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — a subject

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