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

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. race — humankind
  3. pop — soda
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wind — moving air
  6. ground — a position
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ground — crushed
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. spring — of water
  12. fall — the season
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. face — to confront
  15. race — a contest
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pop — music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ground — the earth
  23. face — part of the head
  24. saw — the tool

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