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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. last — final
  3. band — a ring
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. fall — to drop
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spring — a coil
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. spring — the season
  14. last — finally
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. band — a music group
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. tube — a container
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. last — to go on
  24. fall — 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