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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. can — to be able to
  8. wake — a trail
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kick — in football
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. spring — the season
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. can — a tin
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. can — a tin
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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