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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cap — a hat
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. spring — of water
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a lid
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bore — to tire
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — hasty
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. stock — shares
  18. spring — the season
  19. stock — goods
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. cold — not warm
  24. patient — a sick person

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