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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. fine — a penalty
  2. drill — army training
  3. key — for a lock
  4. spring — of water
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. spring — the season
  9. drill — a practice
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. key — the most important part
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. stock — shares
  15. key — in music
  16. fine — all right
  17. spring — a coil
  18. mine — for digging
  19. drill — the tool
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. fine — high quality
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. stock — goods
  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