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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. spell — letters
  3. squash — to crush
  4. content — the amount
  5. squash — the sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. face — part of the head
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. charge — in control
  11. clip — to cut
  12. spell — a short time
  13. kick — in football
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. face — to confront
  19. wind — moving air
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. charge — electricity
  22. content — happy
  23. face — to point toward
  24. charge — a price

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