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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. wind — moving air
  3. drill — army training
  4. spell — letters
  5. clip — to cut
  6. chip — to eat
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bulb — for light
  10. clip — for paper
  11. ball — a dance
  12. spell — magic
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spell — a short time
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. ball — a great time
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bulb — for light
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a list
  21. clip — a video
  22. roll — a cake
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chip — for betting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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