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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. tear — from crying
  4. band — a ring
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cell — in biology
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cell — a phone
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cue — a hint
  15. wound — an injury
  16. prune — to trim
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. spell — a short time
  19. band — a music group
  20. prune — to trim
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spell — letters

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