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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. spring — a coil
  5. club — a group
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. club — for golf
  11. bear — the animal
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — for dancing
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — the season
  24. tear — from crying

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