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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. present — a gift
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. present — there
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. spring — a coil
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. present — the time now
  18. rule — to rule out

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