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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. spell — letters
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. shower — rain
  9. spell — a short time
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. spell — magic
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rush — hurry
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bulb — for light
  17. snap — to click
  18. shower — to wash
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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