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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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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 · fan · pitch · key · cell · race · rush

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. key — for a lock
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cell — in biology
  11. race — humankind
  12. key — the most important part
  13. rush — hurry
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pitch — completely
  16. spring — the season
  17. race — a contest
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cell — a phone
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — the Cold War

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