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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. swing — in golf
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. face — to confront
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — of ice
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. snap — to click
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. root — of a plant
  20. swing — music
  21. swing — to play on
  22. root — of a word
  23. cap — a hat
  24. root — the cause

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