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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — letters
  4. present — a gift
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. rest — what's left
  12. scale — in music
  13. band — a music group
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rest — what's left
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. row — a line
  21. rest — a break
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — there
  24. spell — magic

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