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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wake — a trail
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — all right
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. rock — music
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. spell — a short time
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rock — a stone
  14. fall — to drop
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. spell — magic
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fine — a penalty

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