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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. season — of the year
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spring — of water
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chest — of your body
  8. season — in sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mug — a face
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. mug — to rob
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. mug — a cup
  17. spring — the season
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. snap — to click
  23. chest — a box
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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