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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. spell — letters
  7. fine — all right
  8. spell — a short time
  9. hand — in cards
  10. branch — a division
  11. fine — high quality
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. hand — help
  18. cabinet — a cupboard

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