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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: can · rash · date · bat · wound · stand · spell · hand

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. stand — to bear
  4. can — to be able to
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wound — an injury
  7. can — a tin
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. hand — help
  14. can — a tin
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rash — a series
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. hand — in cards
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. rash — hasty

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