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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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Word bank
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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: fall · spell · stick · bat · pit · wound · ground · present

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. spell — letters
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pit — in a race
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pit — a hole
  9. ground — a position
  10. present — there
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. present — a gift
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spell — magic
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. present — the time now
  24. spell — a short time

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