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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. land — a country
  9. root — of a word
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. march — the month
  13. land — to come down
  14. root — the cause
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. land — ground
  21. fork — in a road
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. root — of a plant

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