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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. charge — electricity
  3. prune — to trim
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — the earth
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. charge — in control
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cue — a hint
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cue — for pool
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. charge — a price
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cue — a signal
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — not warm
  23. shower — rain
  24. scale — in music

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