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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 116 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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. game — a match
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wind — moving air
  14. spell — magic
  15. rash — hasty
  16. spell — a short time
  17. lie — to recline
  18. swing — in golf
  19. ball — a dance
  20. rash — a series
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. swing — 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