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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · fork · cell · row · spell · toast

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. spell — letters
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cell — in biology
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spell — magic
  17. toast — bread
  18. row — a line

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