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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bat — the animal
  4. can — a tin
  5. spell — a short time
  6. key — in music
  7. key — for a lock
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cold — not warm
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. spell — magic
  16. land — ground
  17. land — to come down
  18. fork — in a road
  19. land — a country
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. key — the most important part
  22. can — a tin
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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