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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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468
Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. kick — in football
  9. spell — a short time
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. scale — in music
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. stem — of a plant

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