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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rule — government
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rule — a law
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. ball — a great time
  10. lean — thin
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. ball — a dance
  15. spell — a short time
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lean — to bend
  20. spell — magic
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fork — to eat with

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