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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. spring — of water
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — government
  6. rule — a law
  7. spring — the season
  8. land — to come down
  9. spell — letters
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spell — a short time
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — ground
  17. wind — moving air
  18. land — a country

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