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

Word bank: spell · toast · mine · file · tear · kick · bass · rest

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. rest — a break
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. kick — in football
  5. tear — to rip
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. file — a tool
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spell — magic
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — for digging
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bass — the fish
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spell — letters
  20. toast — bread
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bass — low music

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