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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. shower — to wash
  3. pitch — completely
  4. ball — a dance
  5. spring — the season
  6. rest — a break
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spring — a coil
  10. shower — rain
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. ball — a great time
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rock — music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rest — what's left
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rock — a stone
  21. spring — of water
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. mine — for digging
  24. rest — what's left

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