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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. spring — the season
  3. row — a line
  4. rush — hurry
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. row — to paddle
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. saw — the tool
  12. toast — bread
  13. spring — of water
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. cold — an illness
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. spring — a coil
  24. row — a quarrel

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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