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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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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 · nail · last · straw · pound · current · branch

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. last — final
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. race — humankind
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spring — the season
  10. current — of water
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. current — happening now
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. last — finally
  16. last — to go on
  17. branch — a division
  18. spring — a coil
  19. race — a contest
  20. spring — of water
  21. race — the arms race
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pound — a weight
  24. current — electric

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