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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. foot — a measure
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. spring — a coil
  6. charge — electricity
  7. hand — help
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — a match
  10. spring — of water
  11. sharp — clever
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — not warm
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spring — the season
  22. charge — in control
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. charge — a price

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