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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: spring · mine · chair · race · wound · bark · root · bay

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spring — the season
  3. race — a contest
  4. bark — to shout
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. spring — of water
  10. root — of a plant
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. root — of a word
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. race — the arms race
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. root — the cause
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. race — humankind
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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