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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 120 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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rash — hasty
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. spell — magic
  6. present — there
  7. pop — to visit
  8. net — for catching
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. spell — letters
  11. capital — a city
  12. mate — a partner
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. mate — to breed
  16. capital — money
  17. pop — music
  18. present — the time now
  19. pop — soda
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — a series
  22. mate — a friend
  23. shower — rain
  24. present — a gift

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