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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: wind · squash · wound · rush · content · race · fine · temple

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — happy
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. fine — high quality
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rush — hurry
  9. squash — the sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. race — humankind
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fine — all right
  19. wound — an injury
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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