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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bat — the animal
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stock — goods
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. roll — a cake
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. stock — shares
  21. roll — a list
  22. rush — hurry
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. spell — a short time

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