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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: snap · spring · race · lash · file · court · bear · arm

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. race — a contest
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. snap — to click
  7. spring — the season
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. file — a document
  10. court — of a king
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. spring — a coil
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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