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

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. spell — letters
  3. prune — to trim
  4. race — humankind
  5. firm — steady
  6. drill — army training
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spell — magic
  9. firm — a company
  10. spell — a short time
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. firm — decided
  14. drill — the tool
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. race — a contest
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. land — to come down
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. prune — to trim

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