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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ground — crushed
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bound — obliged
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. drill — a practice
  7. bound — certain
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. spell — magic
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ground — a position
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. ground — the earth
  14. drill — army training
  15. ball — a great time
  16. row — a line
  17. drill — the tool
  18. fall — the season
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bound — tied together
  23. spell — a short time
  24. row — to paddle

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