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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. file — a line of people
  3. tube — the underground
  4. land — to come down
  5. bulb — for light
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. wound — an injury
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. root — of a word
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. file — a document
  17. root — of a plant
  18. land — a country
  19. file — a tool
  20. bulb — for light
  21. spell — letters
  22. land — ground
  23. tube — a container
  24. root — the cause

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