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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. row — a line
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. spell — a short time
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. row — to paddle
  15. key — the most important part
  16. file — a tool
  17. kick — in football
  18. shower — to wash
  19. key — in music
  20. spell — magic
  21. stock — goods
  22. file — a document
  23. stock — shares
  24. key — for a lock

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