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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cold — an illness
  3. present — the time now
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. can — to be able to
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. row — to paddle
  10. spell — magic
  11. fall — the season
  12. present — a gift
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. band — a ring
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. march — the month
  18. present — there
  19. band — a music group
  20. row — a line
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. march — music
  23. can — a tin
  24. spell — a short time

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