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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spring — of water
  3. race — the arms race
  4. spring — a coil
  5. snap — to click
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. press — to push
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bear — the animal
  12. cold — not warm
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bear — the animal
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. press — a publisher
  22. spring — the season
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. press — newspapers

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