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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. lie — to recline
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. march — the month
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spell — a short time
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — to crush
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. squash — the sport
  20. spell — letters
  21. wound — an injury
  22. file — a tool
  23. deal — to handle
  24. file — a document

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