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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spring — of water
  3. firm — a company
  4. race — a contest
  5. tube — the underground
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. firm — decided
  8. spell — a short time
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. spring — a coil
  12. snap — to click
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — humankind
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — steady
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spell — letters
  22. tube — a container
  23. race — the arms race
  24. capital — money

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