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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 water is too ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mug — a face
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. swing — music
  9. wound — an injury
  10. swing — to play on
  11. spring — the season
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mug — a cup
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. craft — boats
  16. spring — of water
  17. pound — a weight
  18. rule — government
  19. wound — an injury
  20. swing — in golf
  21. rule — a law
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — to rob
  24. pound — for dogs

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