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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 water is too ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spring — of water
  4. bound — obliged
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. chip — to eat
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. bound — tied together
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. bound — certain
  13. charge — a price
  14. spring — a coil
  15. charge — in control
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. charge — electricity
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — the season

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