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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 116 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: cold · race · deal · spell · wound · file · hand · season

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a line of people
  3. deal — to handle
  4. spell — a short time
  5. race — the arms race
  6. spell — letters
  7. file — a document
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. race — humankind
  10. file — a tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — a contest
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. cold — an illness
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. season — of the year
  18. wound — an injury
  19. season — in sport
  20. hand — help
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spell — magic
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. hand — part of the body

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