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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spring — of water
  5. mate — a partner
  6. squash — the sport
  7. file — a document
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hand — in cards
  10. race — a contest
  11. file — a tool
  12. chair — a leader
  13. mate — to breed
  14. race — humankind
  15. squash — to crush
  16. mate — a friend
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — the arms race
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. hand — help
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cabinet — ministers

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