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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. spring — the season
  5. cue — a signal
  6. kid — child
  7. cue — a hint
  8. staff — employees
  9. cue — for pool
  10. rash — hasty
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. kid — to tease
  15. squash — to crush
  16. spring — of water
  17. season — of the year
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bass — the fish
  20. staff — a stick
  21. squash — the sport
  22. rash — a series
  23. season — in sport
  24. staff — employees

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