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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bore — to tire
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. file — a tool
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to drill
  12. spell — magic
  13. snap — to click
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. spring — of water
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. march — music
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. march — the month

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