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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. drill — the tool
  5. spell — letters
  6. fork — in a road
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. mug — a cup
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. ground — crushed
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — of a word
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mug — a face
  16. wax — to grow
  17. drill — a practice
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. mug — to rob
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. root — the cause
  22. ground — a position
  23. drill — army training
  24. ground — the earth

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