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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spring — of water
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. deal — to handle
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. wound — an injury
  12. last — to go on
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — finally
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cell — a phone
  17. last — final
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cell — in biology
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spring — the season
  24. bat — the animal

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