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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. spell — magic
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cold — an illness
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. cell — in biology
  14. spell — letters
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spell — a short time
  17. wound — an injury
  18. land — ground
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bowl — to 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