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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. cold — not warm
  3. firm — steady
  4. spring — a coil
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. season — in sport
  11. mine — for digging
  12. can — a tin
  13. season — of the year
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. firm — decided
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chip — to eat
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. chip — for betting
  24. season — to add flavour

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