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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spring — of water
  3. spell — magic
  4. present — a gift
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. capital — money
  11. present — there
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. net — for catching
  14. capital — a city
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. present — the time now
  17. net — after costs
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. net — in sport
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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