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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — a coil
  4. last — to go on
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. last — finally
  7. key — the most important part
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spring — the season
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. current — happening now
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. track — a path
  18. spring — of water
  19. last — final
  20. current — electric
  21. track — a song
  22. current — of water
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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