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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. ball — a dance
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. file — a document
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. spell — a short time
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. file — a tool
  18. net — after costs
  19. ball — a great time
  20. file — a line of people
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kick — in football
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — a tool

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