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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. snap — to click
  3. spring — of water
  4. bound — tied together
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bound — obliged
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cold — not warm
  11. present — there
  12. face — to point toward
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bound — certain
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. face — to confront
  18. present — a gift
  19. spring — the season
  20. present — the time now
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. craft — boats
  24. spring — a coil

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