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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in biology
  3. spring — the season
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cell — a phone
  10. board — to get on
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tear — to rip
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. firm — steady
  18. firm — a company
  19. tear — from crying
  20. firm — decided
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. board — a committee
  24. spring — of water

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