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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: chest · arm · bear · spell · race · season · fall · game

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. fall — the season
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. race — the arms race
  9. spell — a short time
  10. chest — of your body
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — the animal
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. season — of the year
  17. chest — a box
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — a contest
  20. season — in sport
  21. fall — to drop
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. game — a match
  24. arm — 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