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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a match
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. present — a gift
  8. spring — of water
  9. charge — a price
  10. present — there
  11. spring — a coil
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wound — an injury
  14. charge — electricity
  15. cold — an illness
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. present — the time now
  19. spring — the season
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. charge — in control

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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