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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spring — a coil
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — a trail
  12. can — a tin
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. chest — of your body
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. spring — the season
  17. date — the fruit
  18. can — to be able to
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chest — a box
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. date — on the calendar

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