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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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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: land · wound · spell · chest · race · kid · bulb · fine

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bulb — for light
  5. chest — a box
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. race — humankind
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. race — a contest
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — to come down
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — magic
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — all right
  20. spell — letters
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. land — ground

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