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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  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. spell — magic
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cue — a signal
  4. spell — letters
  5. object — a thing
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — a video
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. firm — a company
  10. firm — steady
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. object — to protest
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. firm — decided
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — to cut
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cold — an illness
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. object — an aim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cue — for pool
  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