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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. rash — hasty
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. prune — to trim
  7. land — to come down
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. bat — the animal
  14. track — a path
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. track — a song
  17. rash — a series
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. land — a country
  20. track — to keep track
  21. vault — a safe
  22. spell — a short time
  23. land — ground
  24. bat — in an idiom

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