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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. land — to come down
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. can — a tin
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — an illness
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — of water
  11. pop — to visit
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. land — a country
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. can — to be able to
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spring — the season
  18. pop — music
  19. can — a tin
  20. perch — the fish
  21. net — for catching
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. spring — a coil

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