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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. spell — letters
  3. last — final
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spell — a short time
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — a country
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — of water
  12. scale — size or range
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wound — an injury
  15. last — to go on
  16. spell — magic
  17. land — to come down
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — a box
  24. scale — in music

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