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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — finally
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bark — to shout
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — army training
  16. spell — letters
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. spell — magic
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. last — final
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — to go on
  24. mark — to pay attention

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