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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. row — to paddle
  8. face — part of the head
  9. band — a ring
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. race — humankind
  13. spell — a short time
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. mine — for digging
  16. face — to point toward
  17. race — a contest
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. toast — bread
  20. face — to confront
  21. band — a music group
  22. spell — magic
  23. row — a line
  24. race — the arms race

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