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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. hand — in cards
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hand — help
  12. kid — child
  13. game — wild animals
  14. present — there
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. present — the time now
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. game — a match
  19. spell — letters
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. present — a gift
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. spell — magic
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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