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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. spell — magic
  3. tear — to rip
  4. capital — money
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bat — the animal
  7. capital — a city
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spell — a short time
  10. pop — music
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. tear — from crying
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. court — of a king
  15. swing — to play on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pop — to visit
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — for sport
  21. spell — letters
  22. pop — soda
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. swing — music

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