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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — letters
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spell — magic
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. spell — a short time
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. land — a country
  15. kid — child
  16. rash — a series
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. land — to come down
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. land — ground
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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