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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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Word bank
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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. ball — a dance
  6. spell — magic
  7. present — the time now
  8. ball — a great time
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. stem — to come from
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. present — a gift
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. present — there
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — farmland
  23. spell — a short time
  24. nail — on a finger

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