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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 116 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mine — for digging
  6. row — to paddle
  7. scale — in music
  8. fall — the season
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. tube — the underground
  13. spell — letters
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. fall — to drop
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tube — a container
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. spell — a short time
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. spell — magic

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