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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. spell — letters
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. scale — size or range
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pop — music
  14. spell — magic
  15. pop — to visit
  16. scale — in music
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rule — a law
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. bat — the animal
  21. pop — soda
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. rule — government

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