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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 124 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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spell — a short time
  5. last — finally
  6. ground — the earth
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — crushed
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spell — magic
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. saw — the tool
  18. spell — letters
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. last — final
  24. last — to go on

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