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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 · spring · race · cabinet · prune · bulb · lie · snap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. 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. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. race — a contest
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lie — to recline
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. snap — to click
  12. spring — the season
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. race — the arms race
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. race — humankind
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. bulb — for light
  24. 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