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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mug — a face
  5. season — in sport
  6. dip — to sink
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — the season
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. rest — what's left
  11. mug — a cup
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chair — a leader
  14. rest — what's left
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. season — of the year
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mug — to rob
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. rest — a break
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. dip — to dunk
  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