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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 · race · spell · spring · ground · firm · hand · bear

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. firm — steady
  3. spell — letters
  4. race — a contest
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. hand — help
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. firm — a company
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. race — humankind
  15. season — in sport
  16. bear — the animal
  17. hand — in cards
  18. race — the arms race
  19. spell — magic
  20. spring — of water
  21. firm — decided
  22. spring — a coil
  23. season — of the year
  24. bear — the animal

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