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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. shower — rain
  3. net — in sport
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. spring — the season
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. saw — the tool
  10. scale — size or range
  11. spring — a coil
  12. scale — in music
  13. track — to keep track
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. net — for catching
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. spring — of water
  19. track — a path
  20. spell — magic
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. net — after costs
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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