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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pass — a permit
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spring — the season
  14. fall — the season
  15. cold — an illness
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. deal — to handle
  21. fall — to drop
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — the Cold War

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