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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. staff — employees
  3. mate — a partner
  4. swing — in golf
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — to breed
  8. swing — music
  9. spring — of water
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — a grade
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. swing — to play on
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mate — a friend
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cold — an illness
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. plane — a tool
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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