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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — magic
  6. bound — obliged
  7. board — to get on
  8. bound — certain
  9. row — a line
  10. row — to paddle
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bound — tied together
  14. net — in sport
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bat — the animal
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spell — letters

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