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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 120 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: shower · bear · spring · pound · cold · pass · ruler · club

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — for dancing
  11. pass — a permit
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. shower — rain
  14. club — for golf
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. bear — the animal
  17. shower — to wash
  18. club — a group
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — the season
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. ruler — a monarch

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