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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. tear — from crying
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. sharp — clever
  5. spell — magic
  6. mug — a face
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. race — the arms race
  14. squash — the sport
  15. mug — a cup
  16. tear — to rip
  17. perch — the fish
  18. tear — from crying
  19. race — a contest
  20. mug — to rob
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. race — humankind
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. squash — to crush

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