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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. ground — crushed
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. ball — a dance
  5. land — ground
  6. spring — the season
  7. ball — a great time
  8. race — a contest
  9. spring — of water
  10. branch — a division
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. land — a country
  13. spell — letters
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — a position
  18. land — to come down
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. race — humankind

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