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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 124 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 water is too ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. spring — the season
  6. bound — tied together
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bound — obliged
  9. pit — in a race
  10. spring — of water
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — a series
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stock — goods
  16. wax — to grow
  17. stock — shares
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — certain

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