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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. spring — of water
  3. spell — letters
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chest — a box
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — a phone
  12. charge — a price
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spring — the season
  17. cap — of ice
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. charge — electricity
  21. charge — in control
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cap — a hat
  24. lean — to bend

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