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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: straw · fine · spring · prune · ground · race · club · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. club — a group
  5. spring — the season
  6. prune — to trim
  7. club — for golf
  8. spring — of water
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. club — for dancing
  11. fine — high quality
  12. race — the arms race
  13. hand — help
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fine — all right
  16. ground — a position
  17. prune — to trim
  18. race — a contest
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. race — humankind
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. spring — a coil

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