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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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Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. swing — to play on
  4. ground — the earth
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. swing — music
  10. ground — a position
  11. staff — a stick
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. spell — a short time
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cold — an illness
  24. hand — in cards

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