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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — magic
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ball — a great time
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. can — to be able to
  8. file — a line of people
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. can — a tin
  11. spell — letters
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — in sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. ball — a dance
  18. file — a document
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. can — a tin
  23. file — a tool
  24. pitcher — in 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