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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: roll · present · race · arm · cold · spring · foot · mine

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. race — a contest
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. present — there
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. present — a gift
  12. spring — the season
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. foot — a measure
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. spring — a coil
  17. present — the time now
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — for digging
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — a cake

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