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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. pop — music
  4. fork — in a road
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. rash — a series
  8. land — to come down
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. roll — a list
  11. land — ground
  12. spell — magic
  13. rash — hasty
  14. race — a contest
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. roll — a cake
  17. race — the arms race
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pop — to visit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. race — humankind
  22. date — the fruit
  23. land — a country
  24. fork — to eat with

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