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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 120 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: wound · spring · ground · race · pound · stock · rest · patient

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. spring — of water
  3. race — the arms race
  4. ground — crushed
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. race — humankind
  8. rest — what's left
  9. stock — goods
  10. rest — a break
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — shares
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rest — what's left
  18. ground — the earth
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. ground — a position
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — the season

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