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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: race · spring · season · cap · rash · row · nail · court

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. season — of the year
  3. race — a contest
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. race — the arms race
  6. season — in sport
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. court — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. row — a line
  11. spring — a coil
  12. race — humankind
  13. court — of a king
  14. cap — a hat
  15. rash — hasty
  16. court — of law
  17. rash — a series
  18. cap — a lid
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cap — of ice
  24. spring — of water

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