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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. object — to protest
  4. spell — letters
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — a short time
  7. content — the amount
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mark — a trace
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — to rip
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mark — a grade
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. object — an aim
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. object — a thing
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. content — happy
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. straw — a straw man

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