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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. row — to paddle
  3. spell — magic
  4. cold — an illness
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wax — to grow
  10. face — to confront
  11. spell — letters
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. wind — moving air
  14. row — a line
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. spell — a short time
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cold — not warm

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