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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. band — a music group
  3. spell — letters
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wind — moving air
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. scale — in music
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. lie — to recline
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. band — a ring
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. spell — magic
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — the animal
  24. spell — a short time

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