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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. plane — a tool
  3. bat — the animal
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wind — moving air
  6. march — music
  7. spell — magic
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — a subject
  10. spell — a short time
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. track — a path
  15. march — the month
  16. tube — a container
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. track — a song
  22. march — the month
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. tube — the underground

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