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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a tool
  9. spring — a coil
  10. file — a document
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — a thing
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cell — in biology
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. object — to protest

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