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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. spring — of water
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spring — the season
  11. land — ground
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cap — a hat
  14. mark — a trace
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cap — of ice
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cap — a lid
  21. land — a country
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kick — in football

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