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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. spring — a coil
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. race — a contest
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pop — music
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. fall — to drop
  12. mine — for digging
  13. race — humankind
  14. pop — soda
  15. spring — of water
  16. race — the arms race
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. spring — the season
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — 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