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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. track — to keep track
  5. rock — music
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. spring — a coil
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — the season
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. spring — of water
  21. rock — a stone
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. cold — not warm
  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