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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: race · wound · wind · sharp · leaves · jam · racket · mine

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. wound — an injury
  7. race — the arms race
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. race — a contest
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. wind — moving air
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. sharp — clever
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. race — humankind
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — for digging
  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