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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wound — an injury
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wound — an injury
  8. face — part of the head
  9. field — a subject
  10. face — to confront
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bound — certain
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bound — tied together
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. spring — a coil
  18. face — to point toward
  19. field — for sport
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. spring — of water

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