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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spell — magic
  4. bore — to tire
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — not warm
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bat — the animal
  15. spell — letters
  16. cell — in biology
  17. sharp — clever
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spell — a short 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