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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. spell — letters
  4. wind — moving air
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. can — a tin
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. ground — a position
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. ground — the earth
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spell — a short time
  19. can — a tin
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. ground — crushed
  22. spell — magic
  23. lean — thin
  24. lean — to bend

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