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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 124 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. mug — a cup
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. last — to go on
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. last — final
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — in a road
  19. shower — to wash
  20. mug — a face
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. last — finally
  23. mug — to rob
  24. spring — the season

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