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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. bank — of a river
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. ball — a great time
  6. roll — a cake
  7. spell — a short time
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. file — a document
  10. ball — a dance
  11. file — a line of people
  12. squash — to crush
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. spell — letters
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bank — for money
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bank — for money
  21. file — a tool
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  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