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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. mine — for digging
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. spring — of water
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mark — a grade
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. season — in sport
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. spring — the season
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mark — a trace
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — the fruit
  23. spring — a coil
  24. kid — child

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