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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. key — for a lock
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. plane — a tool
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — in music
  12. pitch — completely
  13. file — a tool
  14. deal — to handle
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. file — a line of people
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. spell — letters
  20. file — a document
  21. spell — a short time
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — a big deal

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