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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. band — a music group
  6. row — a line
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. spell — magic
  10. stem — to come from
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. mark — a grade
  13. dip — to sink
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. band — a ring
  16. mark — a trace
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bat — the animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. key — the most important part
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. key — for a lock
  24. bat — for 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