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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. spring — of water
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. present — the time now
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. present — there
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. branch — a division
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bulb — for light
  17. spring — the season
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bulb — for light
  20. present — a gift
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. wind — to turn a key

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