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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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 — of water
  2. scale — in music
  3. race — a contest
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — the arms race
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. squash — to crush
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. content — the amount
  14. squash — the sport
  15. branch — a division
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. race — humankind
  19. spring — the season
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  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