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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. ground — the earth
  3. race — the arms race
  4. cold — not warm
  5. race — a contest
  6. swing — to play on
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. swing — in golf
  9. ground — crushed
  10. race — humankind
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. date — the fruit
  13. spring — a coil
  14. swing — music
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — an illness
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. ground — a position
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. spring — the season
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. cold — the Cold War

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