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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 120 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: squash · race · wound · trunk · firm · file · hand · last

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. firm — decided
  3. race — a contest
  4. last — to go on
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. race — humankind
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hand — help
  10. file — a line of people
  11. race — the arms race
  12. last — final
  13. wound — an injury
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. squash — the sport
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. firm — steady
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. file — a document
  23. last — finally
  24. firm — a company

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