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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spell — magic
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. scale — size or range
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — help
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. pop — music
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chest — a box
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. scale — in music
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — a short time
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pop — soda
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. lie — to recline
  24. chest — of your body

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