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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · cell · mug · spell · swing · game · trunk · lie

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. spell — letters
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. spell — magic
  6. mug — a face
  7. spell — a short time
  8. game — wild animals
  9. march — music
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. march — the month
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. march — the month
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. lie — to recline
  21. swing — music
  22. mug — a cup
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mug — to rob

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