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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stock — shares
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. lie — to recline
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. bank — of a river
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bank — for money
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. kick — in football
  21. stock — goods
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bank — for money
  24. spring — of water

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