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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: branch · mine · snap · race · sharp · pitch · bore · spring

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. race — humankind
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. spring — a coil
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. race — a contest
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. snap — to click
  12. spring — the season
  13. bore — to tire
  14. race — the arms race
  15. branch — a division
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. pitch — completely
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bore — to drill
  24. bore — gave birth

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