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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spell — magic
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. spell — letters
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. squash — the sport
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. row — to paddle
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fall — the season
  15. row — a line
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. spell — a short time
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cap — of ice
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. squash — to crush
  24. cell — in biology

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