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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: ground · bass · staff · race · patient · spring · cabinet · press

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. race — humankind
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ground — a position
  5. bass — low music
  6. press — a publisher
  7. ground — crushed
  8. staff — employees
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spring — the season
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. ground — the earth
  15. spring — of water
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — to push
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. race — the arms race
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. race — a contest

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