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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: ground · spring · cold · race · scale · prune · stem · track

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — a position
  3. scale — in music
  4. stem — to come from
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. race — a contest
  8. prune — to trim
  9. spring — of water
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. track — a song
  12. scale — size or range
  13. track — a path
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — humankind
  16. spring — the season
  17. ground — crushed
  18. track — to keep track
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cold — an illness
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. prune — to trim

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