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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — to rip
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. fall — to drop
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. spell — a short time
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. date — the fruit
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fall — to drop
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. dip — to sink
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. prune — to trim
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. kick — in football
  24. fall — the season

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