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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: pitch · staff · spring · race · cold · rest · bound · prune

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — certain
  4. rest — a break
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. race — humankind
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — not warm
  12. staff — a stick
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — of water
  17. staff — employees
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. bound — obliged
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. pitch — completely
  24. staff — employees

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