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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. rush — hurry
  3. tube — a container
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — magic
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. tube — the underground
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. bat — the animal
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. ground — crushed
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. vault — a safe
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. ground — the earth
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. ground — a position

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