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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: pitcher · cold · chip · track · lean · trunk · spring · pass

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — to keep track
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cold — not warm
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. track — a song
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. chip — for betting
  15. chip — to eat
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. spring — of water
  20. pass — a permit
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. track — a path
  24. cold — the Cold War

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