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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 120 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. cue — a hint
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. land — to come down
  6. band — a music group
  7. current — electric
  8. content — happy
  9. land — a country
  10. content — the amount
  11. cue — a signal
  12. current — happening now
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — a trail
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spell — a short time
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. tear — from crying
  20. current — of water
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. cue — for pool
  23. band — a ring
  24. tear — to rip

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