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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. net — in sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. charge — in control
  10. snap — to click
  11. charge — a price
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pop — soda
  14. spell — magic
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. prune — to trim
  20. net — for catching
  21. spell — a short time
  22. charge — electricity
  23. pop — music
  24. net — after costs

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