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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. hide — animal skin
  2. sharp — clever
  3. spell — letters
  4. root — of a word
  5. band — a ring
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. drill — the tool
  9. root — of a plant
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. band — a music group
  12. drill — army training
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spell — magic
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. row — a line
  17. root — the cause
  18. mine — for digging
  19. drill — a practice
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. sharp — exactly
  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