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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. spell — a short time
  4. file — a document
  5. spell — magic
  6. rash — a series
  7. plane — a tool
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. file — a tool
  13. spell — letters
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. ball — a dance
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rush — hurry
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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