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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. spring — of water
  4. squash — the sport
  5. mark — a grade
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. last — final
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. last — finally
  12. spring — a coil
  13. kid — child
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. present — there
  16. kid — to tease
  17. land — to come down
  18. present — a gift
  19. spring — the season
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mark — a trace
  24. last — to go on

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