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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 120 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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — the season
  4. wound — an injury
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. row — to paddle
  8. vault — a safe
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. spring — a coil
  11. rule — a law
  12. wound — an injury
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. row — a line
  23. rule — government
  24. cold — not warm

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