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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — a coil
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. cold — an illness
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. spring — of water
  10. ball — a great time
  11. staff — a stick
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. spring — the season
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. cold — not warm
  17. march — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. staff — employees
  20. march — the month
  21. staff — employees
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. wave — of the sea

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