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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bass — low music
  3. hand — help
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fork — in a road
  6. capital — a city
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. capital — money
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. spring — of water
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. hide — to keep secret

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