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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: bat · race · wind · spell · safe · swing · rash · rest

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. rest — a break
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. bat — the animal
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rash — a series
  18. race — humankind
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spell — a short time
  21. swing — in golf
  22. rest — what's left
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — to play on

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