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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — for digging
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. firm — steady
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — the month
  14. firm — a company
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. spring — the season
  19. scale — size or range
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. firm — decided
  23. scale — in music
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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