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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spell — magic
  5. shower — rain
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rash — hasty
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — letters
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. spring — the season
  15. pass — a permit
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. spring — of water
  22. rash — a series
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bat — the animal

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