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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. spring — the season
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pop — soda
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. pop — music
  22. spring — of water
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wound — an injury

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