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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. deal — to handle
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. wound — an injury
  6. file — a line of people
  7. wound — an injury
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. foot — a measure
  10. spell — a short time
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. staff — employees
  15. snap — to click
  16. race — the arms race
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a tool
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. race — a contest
  22. file — a document
  23. staff — employees
  24. foot — part of the body

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