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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. race — a contest
  5. cap — a hat
  6. spring — the season
  7. race — the arms race
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. row — a line
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. hand — help
  12. cap — a lid
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cap — of ice
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. row — to paddle
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. spring — a coil
  20. race — humankind
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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