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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 116 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. perch — the fish
  3. squash — to crush
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cell — in biology
  6. race — a contest
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cell — a phone
  10. race — the arms race
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bank — for money
  14. band — a music group
  15. bank — for money
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bank — of a river
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. race — humankind
  20. spring — of water
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. band — a ring
  23. squash — the sport
  24. spring — a coil

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