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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chest — of your body
  3. staff — employees
  4. chest — of your body
  5. club — a group
  6. suit — in cards
  7. spring — of water
  8. club — for dancing
  9. staff — a stick
  10. spring — the season
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. club — for golf
  14. chest — a box
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. suit — clothes
  18. staff — employees

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