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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. object — a thing
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — magic
  6. object — an aim
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cell — a phone
  9. last — final
  10. rock — music
  11. object — to protest
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. bank — for money
  14. rock — a stone
  15. bank — of a river
  16. last — to go on
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — child
  19. cell — in biology
  20. last — finally
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spell — letters

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