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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. scale — size or range
  3. row — a line
  4. spell — a short time
  5. track — a path
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. track — a song
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. scale — in music
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cell — a phone
  15. rash — hasty
  16. track — to keep track
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. stock — shares
  21. spell — magic
  22. row — to paddle
  23. stock — goods
  24. cell — in biology

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