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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — employees
  4. row — a line
  5. spring — of water
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wake — a trail
  13. spring — the season
  14. staff — employees
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — an illness
  19. row — to paddle
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. staff — a stick
  22. cap — a lid
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cap — of ice

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