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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: land · swing · board · leaves · rest · race · trunk · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. land — ground
  5. rest — what's left
  6. board — to get on
  7. board — a committee
  8. land — to come down
  9. swing — music
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rest — a break
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. spell — magic
  16. swing — in golf
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. race — a contest
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. rest — what's left
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. land — a country

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