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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: capital · bore · wind · spring · pass · race · fall · perch

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bore — to drill
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. race — a contest
  11. capital — money
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — a permit
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. race — humankind
  16. perch — the fish
  17. fall — the season
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bore — to tire
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. fall — to drop
  24. perch — for a bird

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