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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spell — letters
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spring — a coil
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. spring — of water
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. spring — the season
  19. rush — hurry
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pass — a permit

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