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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: spring · shower · hand · coach · key · race · pass · object

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. shower — to wash
  3. key — the most important part
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. object — an aim
  6. hand — help
  7. spring — the season
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. key — for a lock
  12. object — a thing
  13. pass — a permit
  14. key — in music
  15. spring — of water
  16. race — humankind
  17. object — to protest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — a contest
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. hand — in cards
  22. spring — a coil
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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