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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're almost out of ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. spell — letters
  3. rest — what's left
  4. shower — rain
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rest — what's left
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. pop — to visit
  9. spell — a short time
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. land — to come down
  13. spell — magic
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. land — ground
  17. shower — to wash
  18. row — a line
  19. rest — a break
  20. land — a country
  21. pop — music
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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