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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. pop — music
  5. fine — high quality
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bore — to drill
  12. bore — to tire
  13. fine — all right
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pop — soda
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. clip — a video
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — the Cold War

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