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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 116 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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — a coil
  5. track — a path
  6. spring — the season
  7. pop — music
  8. spell — a short time
  9. tube — the underground
  10. row — to paddle
  11. spell — magic
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — an illness
  14. track — to keep track
  15. track — a song
  16. tube — a container
  17. row — a line
  18. pop — to visit
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. spell — letters
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. pop — soda
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spring — of water

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