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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. club — for dancing
  8. cell — in biology
  9. club — a group
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — in sport
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — for golf
  18. season — of the year

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