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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. mate — a friend
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — a city
  12. game — a match
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — a phone
  17. mate — to breed
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — magic
  22. capital — money
  23. mate — a partner
  24. game — wild animals

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