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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — a short time
  3. squash — the sport
  4. lie — to recline
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. spell — letters
  10. cold — not warm
  11. net — in sport
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. squash — to crush
  15. net — after costs
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — for catching
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. cold — an illness

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