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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. spring — the season
  3. cue — a signal
  4. cue — for pool
  5. pit — in a race
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cap — of ice
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cue — a hint
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pit — a hole
  16. last — final
  17. degree — from a university
  18. spring — of water
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wound — an injury
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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