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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 124 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. spring — the season
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bound — certain
  7. date — the fruit
  8. spring — of water
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bound — obliged
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bound — tied together
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wind — moving air
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wake — a trail

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