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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 120 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 · drill · nail · race · cold · mate · mark · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spring — of water
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. spring — the season
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mark — a trace
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mark — a grade
  20. race — a contest
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mate — a friend

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