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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. craft — a skill
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. last — to go on
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. craft — boats
  13. content — the amount
  14. mate — to breed
  15. content — happy
  16. last — final
  17. mate — a partner
  18. last — finally
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. mate — a friend
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. spell — a short time
  24. vault — a safe

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