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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. spell — letters
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. race — a contest
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bark — to shout
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rush — hurry
  11. fine — all right
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — humankind
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. kick — in football
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. fan — a supporter
  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