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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wind — moving air
  7. root — of a plant
  8. court — for sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. root — of a word
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. spell — letters
  14. bass — the fish
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spell — magic
  20. court — of law
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. root — the cause
  23. hand — help
  24. bass — low music

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