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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 116 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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a song
  4. present — the time now
  5. pop — soda
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. file — a line of people
  9. charge — electricity
  10. file — a tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spring — a coil
  13. file — a document
  14. present — there
  15. track — a path
  16. cold — an illness
  17. charge — a price
  18. present — a gift
  19. charge — in control
  20. spell — magic
  21. spring — of water
  22. pop — to visit
  23. spring — the season
  24. pop — music

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