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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. spring — of water
  10. net — in sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. net — for catching
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spring — the season
  15. bound — certain
  16. net — after costs
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bound — obliged
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — tied together

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