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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mark — a grade
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cold — an illness
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. net — for catching
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — the season
  17. net — after costs
  18. file — a tool
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. file — a document
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. net — in sport

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