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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. field — a subject
  3. spell — a short time
  4. band — a ring
  5. saw — the tool
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ball — a great time
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. spell — letters
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. game — wild animals
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. shower — rain
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. band — a music group
  22. game — a match
  23. spell — magic
  24. pass — a permit

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