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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 · arm · spring · scale · cold · race · stem · straw

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. spring — a coil
  7. scale — in music
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cold — not warm
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spring — the season
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. cold — an illness
  17. scale — size or range
  18. race — humankind
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. spring — of water
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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