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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — of water
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. row — a line
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. drill — army training
  8. spring — the season
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. stand — to bear
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. row — to paddle
  16. drill — a practice
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. fine — high quality
  20. drill — the tool
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. fine — all right
  23. wake — a trail
  24. stand — for spectators

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