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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: present · band · cabinet · race · spring · tear

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tear — from crying
  3. present — the time now
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. race — a contest
  6. band — a music group
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. present — there
  12. race — humankind
  13. band — a ring
  14. tear — to rip
  15. spring — the season
  16. present — a gift
  17. race — the arms race
  18. spring — of water

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