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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. cold — not warm
  4. swing — music
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. court — for sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. spell — magic
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. court — of a king
  18. swing — in golf
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. court — of law
  24. swing — to play on

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