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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bat — the animal
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. track — a song
  5. drill — a practice
  6. fine — all right
  7. present — the time now
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spell — magic
  10. game — a match
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. file — a tool
  13. track — a path
  14. fine — high quality
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. file — a line of people
  18. drill — the tool
  19. present — there
  20. spell — a short time
  21. track — to keep track
  22. file — a document
  23. present — a gift
  24. drill — army training

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