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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — the season
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spring — of water
  7. object — an aim
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. object — a thing
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. object — to protest
  20. rush — hurry
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. nail — on a finger

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