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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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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 · snap · trunk · shower · deal · club · march · race

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. race — a contest
  3. club — for golf
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. snap — to click
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. race — humankind
  8. deal — to handle
  9. club — for dancing
  10. race — the arms race
  11. club — a group
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. march — music
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. spell — a short time
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. spell — letters
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — magic
  24. trunk — of a tree

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