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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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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: wound · spell · squash · cold · calf · lie · mine · rest

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. spell — magic
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — to crush
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lie — to recline
  10. rest — a break
  11. wound — an injury
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. spell — letters
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. rest — what's left
  18. spell — a short time
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rest — what's left

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