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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: cold · wind · bark · foot · snap · vault · race · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. wind — moving air
  3. race — a contest
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — an illness
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. race — humankind
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wind — moving air
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. foot — a measure
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — 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