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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. mine — for digging
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. swing — to play on
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. spell — magic
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. rash — a series
  10. spell — a short time
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. staff — employees
  13. rash — hasty
  14. staff — a stick
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. staff — employees
  21. stem — to come from
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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