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

Word bank: race · key · cold · pass · degree · bank

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. race — the arms race
  5. key — the most important part
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pass — a permit
  8. race — a contest
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bank — for money
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — an amount
  17. race — humankind
  18. key — in music

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