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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spell — letters
  6. wind — moving air
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spell — a short time
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. bear — the animal
  22. fork — in a road
  23. arm — part of the body
  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