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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bound — certain
  4. spell — a short time
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. chip — for betting
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bound — tied together
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spell — magic
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cell — a phone
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cell — in biology
  23. chip — to eat
  24. patient — a sick person

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