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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — a short time
  3. clip — for paper
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. clip — to cut
  6. cold — an illness
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. saw — the tool
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. spell — letters
  12. clip — a video
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — of ice
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cap — a lid

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