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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: march · wind · spell · ground · wake · press · game · rash

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. march — the month
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wind — moving air
  6. press — newspapers
  7. march — music
  8. rash — hasty
  9. march — the month
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. press — to push
  12. rash — a series
  13. game — wild animals
  14. press — a publisher
  15. spell — letters
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — a match
  18. wake — a trail
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. ground — crushed
  21. spell — magic
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. ground — the earth
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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