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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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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: race · band · face · wound · hand · spell · coach · swing

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. race — humankind
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. band — a music group
  5. swing — in golf
  6. hand — help
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. race — the arms race
  10. spell — magic
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — to confront
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hand — in cards
  15. swing — music
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. race — a contest
  21. spell — letters
  22. band — a ring
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. coach — a trainer

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