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

Word bank: snap · race · wind · spell · squash · bat · kick · kid

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kick — in football
  4. bat — the animal
  5. squash — the sport
  6. spell — a short time
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spell — magic
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. race — a contest
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to click
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kid — child
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. race — humankind
  22. kid — to tease
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. spell — letters

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