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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. rash — hasty
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — for paper
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fine — high quality
  7. shower — rain
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. clip — to cut
  13. shower — to wash
  14. date — the fruit
  15. snap — to click
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fine — all right
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spell — magic
  21. clip — a video
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. spell — letters
  24. rash — a series

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