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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. pit — a hole
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. spell — magic
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. court — for sport
  8. pit — in a race
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a ring
  12. pound — a weight
  13. tear — to rip
  14. court — of law
  15. band — a music group
  16. fork — in a road
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. court — of a king
  24. tear — from crying

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