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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 120 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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — a coil
  5. press — newspapers
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. spring — the season
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bear — the animal
  18. press — to push
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. chest — of your body
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fall — the season
  24. chest — a box

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