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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — humankind
  4. cap — of ice
  5. pass — a permit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cell — in biology
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — a contest
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. spring — the season
  23. pound — a weight
  24. date — on the calendar

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