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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — of water
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mate — to breed
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a ring
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. band — a music group
  12. track — a path
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. track — a song
  15. fine — high quality
  16. track — to keep track
  17. row — to paddle
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mate — a partner
  22. row — a line
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fine — all right

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