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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: pass · pound · cell · game · court · race · bulb · spring

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. race — the arms race
  4. bulb — for light
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. court — of law
  7. race — humankind
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a match
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cell — in biology
  12. court — of a king
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pound — a weight
  15. court — for sport
  16. spring — the season
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pass — a permit
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. race — a contest
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. spring — of water
  24. pound — for dogs

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