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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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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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hand — help
  9. spell — magic
  10. race — a contest
  11. wind — moving air
  12. plane — a tool
  13. squash — to crush
  14. race — the arms race
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. spell — letters
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. race — humankind
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. branch — of a tree

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