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

Word bank: wound · spring · cap · perch · root · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. 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 — a contest
  2. perch — the fish
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cap — a lid
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — of ice
  8. spring — of water
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. spring — the season
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — of a word
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. root — the cause
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. race — the arms race
  18. 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