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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: leaves · hand · wound · rash · spell · face · degree · race

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. face — part of the head
  3. degree — temperature
  4. spell — a short time
  5. race — a contest
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. rash — a series
  8. race — humankind
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. hand — in cards
  13. degree — from a university
  14. spell — letters
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — an amount
  17. race — the arms race
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rash — hasty
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. spell — magic
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — to point toward

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