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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 124 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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Word bank
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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: spring · squash · chair · race · fork · capital

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. capital — money
  4. squash — the sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. squash — to crush
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. race — a contest
  10. chair — a leader
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. spring — of water
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. race — humankind
  18. chair — a professorship

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