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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · spring · cold · mine · race · fork · hand · face

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mine — for digging
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spring — the season
  7. race — humankind
  8. hand — help
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — letters
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. face — to confront
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. face — part of the head
  16. spring — of water
  17. spell — a short time
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. race — a contest
  24. hand — part of the body

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