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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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. hand — part of the body
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. hand — in cards
  7. spell — a short time
  8. press — newspapers
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. content — the amount
  11. drill — the tool
  12. row — to paddle
  13. drill — a practice
  14. content — happy
  15. row — a line
  16. march — the month
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — army training
  19. spell — letters
  20. march — the month
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. march — music
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. fan — to cool the air

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