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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. last — to go on
  4. object — to protest
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pop — to visit
  7. object — an aim
  8. spell — letters
  9. last — final
  10. row — a line
  11. pop — music
  12. face — part of the head
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. ball — a great time
  15. face — to confront
  16. spell — a short time
  17. pop — soda
  18. row — to paddle
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. last — finally
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ball — a dance
  23. object — a thing
  24. ball — a round shape

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