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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. face — to point toward
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cap — a lid
  7. fine — high quality
  8. current — happening now
  9. cap — a hat
  10. current — electric
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cap — of ice
  16. face — to confront
  17. current — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spring — a coil
  22. fine — all right
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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