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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cap — a lid
  6. spring — of water
  7. tear — to rip
  8. spring — a coil
  9. tear — from crying
  10. scale — in music
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cap — a hat
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. spring — the season
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. branch — a division
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cap — of ice
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. safe — out of danger

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