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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: row · scale · chair · spell · snap · wind · wound · sharp

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — magic
  5. snap — to click
  6. spell — a short time
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. spell — letters
  10. wound — an injury
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wind — moving air
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. scale — in music
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. row — to paddle
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. row — a line
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. chair — a professorship

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