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

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spring — the season
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cap — of ice
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. race — the arms race
  10. file — a tool
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — a contest
  14. pit — in a race
  15. cap — a lid
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pit — a hole
  19. spring — a coil
  20. race — humankind
  21. cap — a hat
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — letters
  24. wound — an injury

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