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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 120 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. squash — to crush
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bound — obliged
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. branch — a division
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. spring — the season
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — tied together
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. squash — the sport
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bound — certain
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rest — what's left
  24. branch — of a bank

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