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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. spring — the season
  4. club — for dancing
  5. bass — the fish
  6. bass — low music
  7. staff — employees
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — the season
  12. mate — a friend
  13. spring — of water
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. mate — to breed
  16. fall — to drop
  17. club — for golf
  18. wound — an injury
  19. staff — employees
  20. mate — a partner
  21. staff — a stick
  22. club — a group
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fall — to drop

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