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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. ball — a great time
  3. content — happy
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. march — the month
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. march — the month
  14. content — the amount
  15. scale — in music
  16. march — music
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bore — to drill
  20. spell — a short time
  21. scale — size or range
  22. bore — to tire
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. spell — letters

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