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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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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spell — magic
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. race — a contest
  6. content — happy
  7. wound — an injury
  8. root — of a plant
  9. game — wild animals
  10. race — humankind
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. root — the cause
  13. race — the arms race
  14. game — a match
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. content — the amount
  18. spell — letters
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spell — a short time
  22. wake — a trail
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. root — of a word

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