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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. tube — the underground
  3. last — finally
  4. pass — a permit
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. lean — thin
  12. last — final
  13. cold — an illness
  14. lean — to bend
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. last — to go on
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — the season
  22. tube — a container
  23. cold — not warm
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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