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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — boats
  5. file — a document
  6. bound — tied together
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. squash — the sport
  11. spell — magic
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. craft — a skill
  15. squash — to crush
  16. spell — a short time
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a line of people
  19. tear — to rip
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. bound — obliged
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bound — certain
  24. squash — the vegetable

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