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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spring — the season
  9. cap — a lid
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bore — to tire
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. season — of the year
  14. spring — a coil
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cap — a hat
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bore — to drill
  21. spring — of water
  22. season — in sport
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cold — the Cold War

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