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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 116 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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. perch — the fish
  3. tube — a container
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. tube — the underground
  9. root — of a plant
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. root — the cause
  12. rest — what's left
  13. band — a ring
  14. root — of a word
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spell — letters
  17. pass — a permit
  18. band — a music group
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. perch — for a bird

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