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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: chest · chip · rash · spell · wound · race · pit · band

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. spell — letters
  3. chest — of your body
  4. race — a contest
  5. spell — a short time
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — a series
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. race — humankind
  15. spell — magic
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pit — in a race
  20. band — a ring
  21. rash — hasty
  22. chip — for betting
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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