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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: net · season · pass · race · snap · arm · cold · lie

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. race — a contest
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cold — an illness
  15. race — the arms race
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — in sport
  19. lie — to recline
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. snap — to click

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