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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spring — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bound — tied together
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bound — certain
  10. charge — electricity
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — soda
  15. rock — music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pop — music
  18. charge — a price
  19. rash — hasty
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rash — a series
  23. wake — a trail
  24. charge — in control

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