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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: chest · plane · bass · file · spell · race · spring · drill

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spring — of water
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — a contest
  5. file — a document
  6. spell — a short time
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. chest — of your body
  9. drill — a practice
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bass — low music
  12. chest — a box
  13. file — a tool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. race — humankind
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. drill — army training
  19. file — a line of people
  20. plane — a tool
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bass — the fish
  23. spell — letters
  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