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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. spell — magic
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spell — a short time
  7. press — to push
  8. spell — letters
  9. kid — child
  10. court — of a king
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. tear — from crying
  16. court — of law
  17. rule — government
  18. press — newspapers
  19. press — a publisher
  20. rule — a law
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — for sport
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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