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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cold — an illness
  3. shower — to wash
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. vault — a safe
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. spring — of water
  15. chair — a leader
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. branch — a division
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — not warm
  24. prune — to trim

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