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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rest — a break
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spell — magic
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. suit — clothes
  11. land — ground
  12. kid — to tease
  13. suit — in cards
  14. land — a country
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spell — a short time
  18. land — to come down
  19. capital — a city
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. suit — to fit
  22. kid — child
  23. rest — what's left
  24. prune — to trim

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