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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spring — of water
  6. band — a ring
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mug — to rob
  9. ground — the earth
  10. mug — a cup
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ground — crushed
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. ground — a position
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. band — a music group
  22. season — in sport
  23. mug — a face
  24. spring — the season

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