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

Word bank: board · swing · pound · spring · cold · race

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — humankind
  3. board — to get on
  4. pound — a weight
  5. spring — the season
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. spring — a coil
  9. race — a contest
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. swing — music
  15. race — the arms race
  16. board — a committee
  17. spring — of water
  18. swing — in golf

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