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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — the amount
  7. club — a group
  8. mark — a trace
  9. fall — to drop
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. spring — of water
  12. club — for dancing
  13. fall — the season
  14. season — of the year
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bound — certain
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bound — obliged
  21. content — happy
  22. bound — tied together
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. season — in sport

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