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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. field — farmland
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. saw — the tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. face — to confront
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. spell — a short time
  12. field — for sport
  13. squash — the sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — of water
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. spring — a coil
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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