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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. court — of law
  3. shower — rain
  4. race — humankind
  5. season — of the year
  6. race — the arms race
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. court — for sport
  9. stem — to come from
  10. row — to paddle
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. row — a line
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spring — the season
  18. court — of a king
  19. race — a contest
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. season — in sport

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