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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cap — of ice
  3. spell — letters
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. hand — in cards
  6. net — after costs
  7. spell — a short time
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. staff — a stick
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. swing — to play on
  12. staff — employees
  13. swing — music
  14. cap — a lid
  15. shower — rain
  16. net — in sport
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cap — a hat
  19. swing — in golf
  20. net — for catching
  21. shower — to wash
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. staff — employees

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