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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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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: mark · land · lash · race · wind · club · wound · cell

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. land — ground
  4. mark — a grade
  5. race — the arms race
  6. club — for golf
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — a group
  10. wind — moving air
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. race — humankind
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. land — to come down
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wind — to turn a key

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