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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. track — to keep track
  4. rest — a break
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. track — a path
  8. ground — the earth
  9. rest — what's left
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — a position
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. track — a song
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. spell — magic
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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