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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. cold — not warm
  4. toast — bread
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. land — to come down
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. saw — the tool
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. spring — of water
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. land — a country
  22. saw — the tool
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  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