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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — a phone
  3. shower — rain
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. cell — in biology
  6. mug — to rob
  7. mug — a face
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mug — a cup
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. spring — the season
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. firm — a company
  17. firm — decided
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cold — an illness
  20. field — farmland
  21. firm — steady
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. spring — of water

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