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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 120 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. shower — rain
  3. mark — a grade
  4. spell — letters
  5. rash — hasty
  6. pass — a permit
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mark — a trace
  11. rash — a series
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spell — a short time
  17. swing — to play on
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. swing — music
  24. spell — magic

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