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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — to cut
  7. ball — a dance
  8. band — a music group
  9. fork — in a road
  10. clip — for paper
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. press — newspapers
  13. spell — a short time
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. face — to confront
  17. clip — a video
  18. press — to push
  19. press — a publisher
  20. band — a ring
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. face — part of the head
  24. ball — a great time

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