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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. staff — employees
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. lie — to recline
  5. club — a group
  6. cold — not warm
  7. staff — employees
  8. club — for golf
  9. spring — the season
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — an illness
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cell — in biology
  17. spring — of water
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. staff — a stick
  20. cell — a phone
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — the arms race
  23. club — for dancing
  24. toast — bread

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