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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bound — certain
  5. cap — of ice
  6. spring — a coil
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bound — tied together
  9. scale — in music
  10. spell — letters
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spell — magic
  13. spring — the season
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cap — a lid
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spell — a short time
  21. cold — not warm
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. scale — for weighing

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