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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — a hat
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. spring — the season
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — an illness
  9. rest — a break
  10. cap — a lid
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. court — of a king
  17. pass — a permit
  18. court — for sport
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cap — of ice
  23. court — of law
  24. pass — to spend time

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