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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: content · pass · shower · race · game · cold · lean · face

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. race — a contest
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. game — wild animals
  5. race — the arms race
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. face — part of the head
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. game — a match
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. lean — thin
  13. pass — a permit
  14. content — happy
  15. lean — to bend
  16. face — to confront
  17. shower — rain
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — an illness
  21. face — to point toward
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. shower — to wash
  24. content — the amount

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