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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. spring — of water
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — an illness
  6. can — a tin
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spring — a coil
  14. club — for dancing
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — the season
  21. club — for golf
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. kick — in football

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