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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. current — electric
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — the animal
  8. current — happening now
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — music
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. current — of water
  14. fork — in a road
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. bound — certain
  18. spell — a short time
  19. shower — rain
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — obliged
  24. mine — belonging to me

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