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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. prune — to trim
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spring — the season
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. prune — to trim
  12. date — the fruit
  13. pass — a permit
  14. spring — of water
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pass — to spend time

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