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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. spell — a short time
  3. lie — to recline
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. court — of law
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. scale — size or range
  12. band — a ring
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. court — for sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — letters
  18. scale — in music
  19. band — a music group
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. hand — help
  23. court — of a king
  24. lie — an untruth

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