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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 124 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. spring — of water
  3. key — the most important part
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. key — for a lock
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pop — soda
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — to visit
  12. key — in music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pop — music
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — to drop
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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