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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rest — a break
  3. spell — letters
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. drill — army training
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fall — to drop
  8. drill — the tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. track — a path
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — a song
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. spell — a short time
  16. track — to keep track
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. drill — a practice
  19. wax — to grow
  20. spell — magic
  21. fall — the season
  22. perch — the fish
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. rest — what's left

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