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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spell — a short time
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — a match
  7. tear — to rip
  8. race — humankind
  9. row — to paddle
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. race — the arms race
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. row — a line
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. spell — letters
  18. wake — a trail
  19. race — a contest
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. game — wild animals
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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