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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: board · race · chest · track · spring · tear · prune · club

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. club — for golf
  3. track — to keep track
  4. club — a group
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — to rip
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — of water
  11. tear — from crying
  12. club — for dancing
  13. spring — a coil
  14. race — the arms race
  15. prune — to trim
  16. race — humankind
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. track — a path
  21. race — a contest
  22. prune — to trim
  23. track — a song
  24. board — to get on

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