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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: bulb · spring · race · rush · date · cold · game · staff

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cold — an illness
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. staff — employees
  9. spring — of water
  10. staff — a stick
  11. race — the arms race
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. race — a contest
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bulb — for light
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. spring — the season

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