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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. can — a tin
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — not warm
  5. toast — bread
  6. drill — a practice
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spell — letters
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spring — the season
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. can — to be able to
  16. snap — to click
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. cold — an illness
  22. can — a tin
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. toast — the most admired

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