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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. scale — in music
  3. spring — the season
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bear — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. sharp — clever
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — of water
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. race — a contest
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. vault — a safe
  20. spring — a coil
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. scale — size or range
  24. sharp — with an edge

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