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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — a short time
  3. suit — to fit
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — music
  6. chest — a box
  7. fall — to drop
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. suit — in cards
  14. land — ground
  15. suit — clothes
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. chest — of your body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spell — letters
  21. land — to come down
  22. kid — child
  23. swing — in golf
  24. land — a country

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