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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. spell — letters
  4. ball — a great time
  5. pound — a weight
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spring — of water
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spell — a short time
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. shower — rain
  12. spring — the season
  13. plane — a tool
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — for catching
  19. spell — magic
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. kid — child

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