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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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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 · squash · ground · spring · cold · band · bulb · last

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. band — a ring
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. last — finally
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. ground — crushed
  10. spring — the season
  11. bulb — for light
  12. squash — to crush
  13. ground — the earth
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. last — to go on
  16. last — final
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bulb — for light
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. cold — not warm
  23. band — a music group
  24. nail — on a finger

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