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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. mine — for digging
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a city
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. pop — to visit
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. ground — crushed
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — soda
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. ground — a position
  20. rule — government
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. rule — a law
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ground — the earth

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