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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — to crush
  6. rush — hurry
  7. press — to push
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cold — not warm
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. press — newspapers
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. press — a publisher
  23. snap — to click
  24. cold — an illness

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