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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. spell — a short time
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — a list
  6. land — a country
  7. present — the time now
  8. spell — magic
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. rash — hasty
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. present — a gift
  14. capital — money
  15. land — to come down
  16. chest — of your body
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spell — letters
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. snap — to click
  22. present — there
  23. land — ground
  24. rash — on the skin

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