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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: race · spring · hand · swing · saw · stem · nail · lean

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. saw — the tool
  4. swing — in golf
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stem — to come from
  8. spring — of water
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. swing — music
  11. lean — to bend
  12. race — a contest
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. swing — to play on
  16. race — the arms race
  17. saw — the tool
  18. hand — help
  19. lean — thin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. race — humankind
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. spring — a coil
  24. nail — for a hammer

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