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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. mine — for digging
  3. last — finally
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fall — the season
  7. bat — the animal
  8. last — final
  9. bound — tied together
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bound — certain
  12. spell — a short time
  13. perch — the fish
  14. wax — to grow
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — to go on
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spell — magic
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fall — to drop

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