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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. spell — magic
  6. track — to keep track
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. track — a path
  10. date — the fruit
  11. track — a song
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. craft — a skill
  14. land — ground
  15. tear — to rip
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. tear — from crying
  19. spell — a short time
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. craft — boats

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