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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 · spell · bore · spring · hand · stock · perch · cold

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — humankind
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spring — of water
  8. stock — shares
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — the season
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bore — to tire
  14. stock — goods
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. hand — help
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. spell — magic
  20. bore — to drill
  21. race — a contest
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spring — a coil

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