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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. spell — magic
  4. file — a document
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. deal — to handle
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. drill — army training
  11. capital — money
  12. file — a tool
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rash — hasty
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. spell — a short time
  18. capital — a city
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. drill — a practice
  22. rash — a series
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. file — a line of people

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