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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bank — for money
  4. file — a tool
  5. cap — a lid
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bank — for money
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bulb — for light
  11. spring — of water
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bank — of a river
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cap — a hat
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. file — a document
  20. cap — of ice
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

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