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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mug — a cup
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — a coil
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. mark — a trace
  9. chest — a box
  10. mug — to rob
  11. spring — of water
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spring — the season
  14. chest — of your body
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — there
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. present — a gift
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. mug — a face
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. mark — a grade

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