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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. spell — magic
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. march — the month
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. spell — a short time
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. march — music
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. key — the most important part
  15. spell — letters
  16. march — the month
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. land — ground
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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