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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. spring — a coil
  3. shower — rain
  4. bass — the fish
  5. deal — to handle
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. bass — low music
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. content — the amount
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. shower — to wash
  17. spring — of water
  18. content — happy
  19. spring — the season
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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