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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. wake — a trail
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. clip — to cut
  6. drill — the tool
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. spring — of water
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spring — the season
  11. drill — a practice
  12. roll — a cake
  13. club — for golf
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spell — letters
  16. roll — a list
  17. clip — a video
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. drill — army training
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. club — for dancing
  22. scale — in music
  23. spell — magic
  24. scale — size or range

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