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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.

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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cue — for pool
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. spell — letters
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mate — a partner
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mate — to breed
  17. rest — what's left
  18. face — to confront
  19. cue — a signal
  20. hand — in cards
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rest — what's left
  23. hand — help
  24. rest — a break

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