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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. spring — of water
  3. spell — a short time
  4. land — ground
  5. spring — a coil
  6. hand — help
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. spell — magic
  9. clip — to cut
  10. face — part of the head
  11. spell — letters
  12. clip — a video
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. face — to confront
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. spring — the season
  20. march — the month
  21. hand — in cards
  22. clip — for paper
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. face — to point toward

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