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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — in music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. spring — of water
  10. swing — in golf
  11. key — the most important part
  12. mate — to breed
  13. swing — music
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spring — a coil
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — to play on
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. key — for a lock

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