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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cell — a phone
  3. mug — to rob
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. mug — a cup
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. mug — a face
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bark — to shout
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lie — to recline
  14. cell — in biology
  15. spring — of water
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — not warm
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. fork — in a road
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. spring — the season

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