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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. firm — a company
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. firm — steady
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. ball — a great time
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ball — a dance
  11. spring — the season
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. spring — a coil
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. firm — decided
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cold — not warm
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. hide — animal skin

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