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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. stock — shares
  7. bank — for money
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fine — all right
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. fine — high quality
  13. spring — the season
  14. squash — the sport
  15. stock — goods
  16. cold — an illness
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. bank — of a river
  21. squash — to crush
  22. bank — for money
  23. spring — a coil
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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