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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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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: race · spring · squash · capital · pound · season

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. 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. squash — to crush
  2. race — a contest
  3. spring — a coil
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. season — in sport
  7. capital — a city
  8. spring — of water
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. pound — a weight
  12. spring — the season
  13. season — of the year
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. squash — the sport
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. 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