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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spell — magic
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. spell — letters
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — an illness
  8. charge — a price
  9. cold — not warm
  10. charge — in control
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spring — the season
  14. spell — a short time
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. last — to go on
  18. pit — in a race
  19. spring — a coil
  20. last — final
  21. last — finally
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — a fruit stone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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