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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. spell — a short time
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bulb — for light
  7. fall — the season
  8. spell — letters
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. key — the most important part
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. clip — a video
  15. bulb — for light
  16. clip — to cut
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — for paper
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — in music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wound — an injury

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