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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · wake · game · rash · chest · spell · march · wound

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wake — a trail
  3. march — the month
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. march — the month
  7. chest — a box
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — letters
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spell — magic
  17. rash — a series
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. march — music
  22. game — a match
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chest — of your body

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