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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: object · ground · spring · bark · capital · race · net · band

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. race — a contest
  4. object — to protest
  5. capital — money
  6. bark — to shout
  7. band — a music group
  8. race — the arms race
  9. net — after costs
  10. ground — crushed
  11. capital — a city
  12. net — in sport
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. object — an aim
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. object — a thing
  20. race — humankind
  21. band — a ring
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — a position
  24. net — for catching

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