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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. spring — of water
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. present — the time now
  6. drill — army training
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cold — not warm
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mine — for digging
  13. spring — a coil
  14. object — to protest
  15. drill — the tool
  16. present — a gift
  17. object — a thing
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. object — an aim
  22. drill — a practice
  23. spring — the season
  24. scale — for weighing

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