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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. pop — soda
  3. spell — letters
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. pop — to visit
  6. spring — of water
  7. tear — to rip
  8. net — after costs
  9. spell — magic
  10. row — to paddle
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. race — humankind
  13. row — a line
  14. spell — a short time
  15. race — a contest
  16. spring — a coil
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. pop — music
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spring — the season
  23. net — for catching
  24. calf — a young 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