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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. race — the arms race
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. capital — a city
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — money
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bowl — a dish

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