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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  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. mark — to pay attention
  2. spell — letters
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — a position
  8. present — there
  9. spring — of water
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mark — a grade
  12. net — in sport
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. present — a gift
  15. net — for catching
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mark — a trace
  20. net — after costs
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. spell — a short time
  23. present — the time now
  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