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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 120 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — of the year
  6. stem — to come from
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — of law
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. clip — a video
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cold — not warm
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. court — of a king
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice
  19. spell — letters
  20. clip — to cut
  21. court — for sport
  22. season — in sport
  23. drill — army training
  24. lash — to lash out

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