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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: nail · rush · race · last · spring · roll · swing · staff

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. spring — the season
  5. last — final
  6. roll — a list
  7. race — humankind
  8. swing — to play on
  9. staff — a stick
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. last — finally
  13. spring — a coil
  14. race — a contest
  15. spring — of water
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. staff — employees
  18. race — the arms race
  19. roll — a cake
  20. staff — employees
  21. rush — hurry
  22. last — to go on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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