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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — to tease
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mate — a partner
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — the fish
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mate — a friend
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. spell — magic
  15. kid — child
  16. march — the month
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. march — music
  19. shower — rain
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bass — low music
  22. march — the month
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. mate — to breed

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