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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — the season
  4. staff — employees
  5. spring — a coil
  6. staff — a stick
  7. spring — of water
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mug — a face
  11. staff — employees
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mug — to rob
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood

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