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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ball — a dance
  3. season — of the year
  4. mark — a grade
  5. capital — a city
  6. wind — moving air
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. capital — money
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. season — in sport
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. spell — letters
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. spell — a short time
  17. ball — a great time
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wind — moving air
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. mark — a trace
  24. spell — magic

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