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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. spell — magic
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. hand — help
  4. pit — a hole
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bat — the animal
  8. spell — letters
  9. face — to confront
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. face — to point toward
  17. bound — certain
  18. march — music
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cell — a phone
  23. hand — part of the body
  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