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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: spring · race · content · mine · root · march · last · board

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. content — happy
  3. root — of a word
  4. root — of a plant
  5. spring — the season
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. root — the cause
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. march — music
  14. last — final
  15. mine — for digging
  16. last — finally
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. board — to get on
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. board — a committee
  22. last — to go on
  23. race — humankind
  24. content — the amount

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