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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. pop — to visit
  3. degree — from a university
  4. spring — of water
  5. court — of law
  6. spell — magic
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. clip — to cut
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — a short time
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. lie — to recline
  16. court — for sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spell — letters
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pop — soda
  22. court — of a king
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. pop — 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