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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 am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. key — the most important part
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. file — a document
  8. key — in music
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. file — a tool
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spring — the season
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. key — for a lock
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fork — in a road
  24. wound — an injury

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