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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: coach · mine · land · deal · rush · spell · hand · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — hurry
  3. hand — in cards
  4. wound — an injury
  5. hand — help
  6. mine — for digging
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. land — to come down
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. deal — to handle
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. spell — letters
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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