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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. bass — the fish
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spell — magic
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. chest — of your body
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cue — a signal
  12. chest — a box
  13. bass — low music
  14. drill — the tool
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. drill — army training
  18. cue — for pool
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — letters
  24. mine — an explosive

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