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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. lie — to recline
  3. spell — magic
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bear — the animal
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. kid — child
  16. spell — a short time
  17. scale — in music
  18. bound — certain
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spell — letters
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bat — the animal
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cold — the Cold War

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