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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: roll · ground · hand · spell · lash · wound · pitcher · trunk

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spell — a short time
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ground — crushed
  6. roll — a cake
  7. wound — an injury
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — a position
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. spell — magic
  20. roll — a list
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hand — help
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. lash — an eyelash

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