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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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Word bank
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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: cold · face · wake · rest · file · spring · march · pass

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. spring — the season
  3. march — music
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. face — part of the head
  6. spring — of water
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. file — a tool
  16. spring — a coil
  17. face — to confront
  18. pass — a permit
  19. rest — a break
  20. face — to point toward
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — a trail
  23. file — a document
  24. rest — what's left

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