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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kick — in football
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spell — letters
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — size or range
  13. spell — magic
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — part of the head
  16. cold — not warm
  17. face — to point toward
  18. scale — in music

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