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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: nail · race · saw · march · swing · season · dip · spell

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. season — in sport
  5. swing — music
  6. race — humankind
  7. saw — the tool
  8. march — the month
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. swing — to play on
  11. season — of the year
  12. spell — a short time
  13. march — the month
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. spell — letters
  16. race — the arms race
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. swing — in golf
  19. dip — to sink
  20. spell — magic
  21. saw — the tool
  22. march — music
  23. race — a contest
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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