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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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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bulb — for light
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spell — a short time
  14. rush — hurry
  15. bulb — for light
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. wind — moving air
  19. game — a match
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wind — moving air
  24. swing — music

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