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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 · rash · bat · pass · lie · court · lean · spring

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. lie — to recline
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spring — the season
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rash — hasty
  9. court — for sport
  10. spring — of water
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. court — of law
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. court — of a king
  20. lean — to bend
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. pass — a permit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — the animal

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