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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: race · spell · fan · land · squash · bark · wound · track

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. land — to come down
  4. track — to keep track
  5. land — a country
  6. race — humankind
  7. spell — magic
  8. squash — to crush
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. track — a path
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. spell — a short time
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — letters
  18. bark — to shout
  19. track — a song
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — a contest
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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