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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — the animal
  5. root — of a word
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. root — the cause
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spell — a short time
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — army training
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spring — of water
  18. spell — magic
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. straw — a straw man

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