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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. staff — employees
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. deal — to handle
  5. clip — for paper
  6. row — a line
  7. key — in music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — magic
  12. key — for a lock
  13. staff — employees
  14. chest — of your body
  15. roll — a cake
  16. row — to paddle
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. spell — a short time
  19. roll — a list
  20. key — the most important part
  21. clip — a video
  22. staff — a stick
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. chest — a box

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