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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fine — all right
  3. bound — tied together
  4. rash — a series
  5. ball — a great time
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. bound — certain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fine — high quality
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bound — obliged
  20. ball — a dance
  21. rash — hasty
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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