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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 116 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: march · can · wound · lean · spell · mine · pop · race

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  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. can — a tin
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — music
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pop — soda
  6. spell — letters
  7. pop — music
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. lean — to bend
  10. mine — for digging
  11. march — the month
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spell — a short time
  14. race — humankind
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. race — a contest
  23. pop — to visit
  24. spell — magic

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