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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: wake · chair · spring · mine · last · race · spell · chip

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chair — a leader
  4. last — to go on
  5. spring — the season
  6. spell — letters
  7. last — final
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. race — the arms race
  11. spring — of water
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spell — magic
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. last — finally
  23. race — a contest
  24. spring — a coil

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