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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. race — a contest
  4. net — in sport
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. shower — to wash
  9. race — the arms race
  10. pass — a permit
  11. spring — the season
  12. shower — rain
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. race — humankind
  18. spring — a coil

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