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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — a video
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. clip — for paper
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pass — a permit
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. bore — to drill
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. bore — to tire
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. band — a music group
  23. squash — to crush
  24. spring — 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