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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spring — of water
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rash — a series
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cold — not warm
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. saw — the tool
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. content — the amount
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. spring — a coil
  20. rash — hasty
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. content — happy
  24. spring — the season

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