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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. firm — steady
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. bat — the animal
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — a company
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. last — final
  9. band — a ring
  10. ball — a dance
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. dip — to sink
  14. current — electric
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. ball — a great time
  17. current — of water
  18. current — happening now
  19. band — a music group
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. ball — a round shape

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