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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: squash · race · chest · cold · trunk · spell

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — a contest
  8. spell — magic
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — humankind
  12. spell — letters
  13. squash — the sport
  14. spell — a short time
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — of your body

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