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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. sharp — clever
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. press — a publisher
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spell — a short time
  8. press — newspapers
  9. swing — to play on
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — in golf
  13. press — to push
  14. hand — in cards
  15. tear — to rip
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a line
  22. hand — help
  23. tear — from crying
  24. swing — 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