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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wound — an injury
  4. land — to come down
  5. roll — a list
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wax — to grow
  12. land — a country
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. land — ground
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — to shout
  19. spell — magic
  20. roll — a cake
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spell — a short time
  24. roll — on a roll

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