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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. spell — magic
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. spring — of water
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. spring — the season
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. spell — letters
  18. pass — a permit
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. foot — a measure
  21. swing — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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