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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spell — magic
  3. bass — the fish
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — to protest
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — a short time
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bass — low music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. object — a thing
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wind — moving air

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