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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. land — ground
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bank — of a river
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bank — for money
  10. land — a country
  11. spring — of water
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spring — the season
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. last — finally
  16. squash — to crush
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — to come down
  21. spring — a coil
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bank — for money
  24. last — final

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