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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 120 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: spell · chip · race · wind · season · prune · calf · kid

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. race — a contest
  6. prune — to trim
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — to eat
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chip — for betting
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wind — moving air
  14. race — the arms race
  15. season — in sport
  16. race — humankind
  17. season — of the year
  18. spell — a short time
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. kid — child
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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