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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. ground — the earth
  4. fall — to drop
  5. spell — a short time
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spell — letters
  9. roll — a cake
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. fine — all right
  13. spring — the season
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. spring — of water
  17. spell — magic
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fall — to drop
  20. roll — a list
  21. clip — for paper
  22. ground — crushed
  23. fall — the season
  24. fine — high quality

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