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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. tube — the underground
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. key — for a lock
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. current — electric
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. current — of water
  20. key — the most important part
  21. current — happening now
  22. tube — a container
  23. key — in music
  24. spell — magic

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