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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cap — a lid
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — certain
  6. spring — of water
  7. ground — a position
  8. shower — rain
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bound — tied together
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cap — of ice
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cap — a hat
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  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