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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 · rash · mug · mine · pop · field · race · tear

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. spring — a coil
  4. race — a contest
  5. pop — soda
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rash — hasty
  8. race — humankind
  9. mug — a cup
  10. field — for sport
  11. mug — to rob
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. race — the arms race
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — of water
  17. pop — music
  18. pop — to visit
  19. field — farmland
  20. rash — a series
  21. mug — a face
  22. mine — for digging
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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