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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: bore · cold · race · spring · cabinet · net · squash · track

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. net — in sport
  3. bore — to tire
  4. spring — of water
  5. track — to keep track
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — the season
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. track — a path
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bore — to drill
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. track — a song
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — after costs
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cold — not warm
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. race — humankind
  23. net — for catching
  24. spring — a coil

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