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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. spell — a short time
  9. ground — a position
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. spell — letters
  14. last — final
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. ground — the earth
  17. last — to go on
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spell — magic
  23. ground — crushed
  24. pitcher — a jug

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