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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bass — low music
  6. chip — to eat
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. fine — high quality
  11. file — a tool
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bass — the fish
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. spring — the season
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fine — all right
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. file — a document
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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