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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cold — an illness
  3. content — the amount
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. key — in music
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — a measure
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. spring — a coil
  10. key — the most important part
  11. rule — a law
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cold — not warm
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. spring — the season
  19. rule — government
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. content — happy
  23. clip — a video
  24. key — for a lock

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