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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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468
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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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bear — the animal
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. spell — a short time
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cell — a phone
  7. roll — a cake
  8. land — ground
  9. lean — thin
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. roll — a list
  18. spell — magic
  19. land — a country
  20. wound — an injury
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cell — in biology
  24. kick — in football

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