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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · stick · hand · spell · bowl · pitch · last · lie

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. spell — magic
  6. hand — help
  7. last — final
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitch — completely
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. last — finally
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. spell — letters
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. lie — to recline
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wind — moving air
  24. last — to go on

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