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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: season · sharp · bass · race · swing · root · spring · capital

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. 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. season — in sport
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. season — of the year
  7. race — a contest
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. root — of a plant
  12. spring — of water
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bass — low music
  15. race — humankind
  16. root — the cause
  17. bass — the fish
  18. capital — money
  19. root — of a word
  20. swing — music
  21. capital — a city
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. 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