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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. file — a tool
  4. tube — a container
  5. spell — magic
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. lie — to recline
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pit — a hole
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. tube — the underground
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — a match
  18. file — a document
  19. wake — a trail
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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