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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. mug — a cup
  3. spell — magic
  4. land — ground
  5. cell — in biology
  6. spell — letters
  7. mug — to rob
  8. cell — a phone
  9. ball — a dance
  10. race — humankind
  11. spell — a short time
  12. land — to come down
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. land — a country
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. race — a contest
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. mug — a face

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