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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. face — part of the head
  3. fall — to drop
  4. track — a song
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fall — the season
  12. spring — the season
  13. mate — to breed
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. mate — a friend
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spell — letters
  18. track — to keep track
  19. spell — a short time
  20. band — a ring
  21. mate — a partner
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. track — a path

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