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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 116 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. spring — of water
  3. bound — tied together
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cue — a signal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cue — for pool
  8. wake — a trail
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spring — the season
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bound — obliged
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — before a funeral

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