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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: race · mouse · mine · spring · spell · chest · land · coach

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spring — the season
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. race — humankind
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. spell — magic
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spell — a short time
  18. land — ground
  19. spell — letters
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. race — a contest
  24. mine — for digging

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