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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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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: deal · march · wave · spell · bark · bat · squash · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spell — magic
  4. squash — to crush
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. spell — letters
  7. bark — to shout
  8. march — music
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. season — of the year
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. march — the month
  20. season — in sport
  21. march — the month
  22. spell — a short time
  23. deal — to handle
  24. bat — for baseball

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