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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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Word bank
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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: spring · ball · swing · drill · lie · rash · spell · date

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. ball — a great time
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. ball — a dance
  8. drill — the tool
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. swing — music
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. lie — to recline
  14. date — the fruit
  15. rash — a series
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. rash — hasty
  22. swing — to play on
  23. spring — of water
  24. swing — in golf

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