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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. field — farmland
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. present — the time now
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. spring — of water
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. spring — a coil
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. field — for sport
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. spring — the season
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. present — there
  15. dip — to sink
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. present — a gift
  18. field — a subject
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. pound — a weight
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. cold — the Cold War

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