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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: cold · present · sharp · pass · spring · rule · cap · kid

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. spring — the season
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. present — there
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rule — government
  16. cap — a lid
  17. rule — a law
  18. pass — a permit
  19. cap — of ice
  20. kid — child
  21. sharp — clever
  22. present — the time now
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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