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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: stem · wind · fork · season · spell · race · wake · rash

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. spell — a short time
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. season — in sport
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — a series
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stem — to come from
  11. season — of the year
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. spell — letters
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. race — humankind
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. race — a contest
  23. rash — hasty
  24. spell — magic

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