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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fall — the season
  3. squash — to crush
  4. spell — magic
  5. kid — child
  6. track — a path
  7. last — finally
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spell — a short time
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. file — a tool
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a line of people
  15. track — to keep track
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wound — an injury
  18. last — to go on
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. last — final
  22. squash — the sport
  23. track — a song
  24. file — a document

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