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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: spell · race · mug · saw · rule · chest · rest · wound

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. mug — to rob
  3. spell — magic
  4. mug — a face
  5. rule — a law
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rest — a break
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. race — a contest
  12. wound — an injury
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rule — government
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — a short time
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mug — a cup
  24. chest — a box

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