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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. tear — from crying
  4. net — in sport
  5. spring — a coil
  6. file — a line of people
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. tube — the underground
  10. charge — a price
  11. tube — a container
  12. tear — to rip
  13. file — a document
  14. net — after costs
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. charge — electricity
  18. charge — in control
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pitch — completely
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. net — for catching

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