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

Word bank: spring · cold · kid · wave · stand · race

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spring — the season
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. kid — child
  6. race — humankind
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. kid — to tease
  10. race — a contest
  11. stand — to bear
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. race — the arms race
  16. spring — of water
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spring — a coil

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