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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — a short time
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. fine — all right
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — to paddle
  7. fine — high quality
  8. clip — to cut
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rest — a break
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. clip — for paper
  17. ball — a great time
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. spell — letters
  20. ball — a dance
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — a line
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. temple — side of the head

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