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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. spring — of water
  3. mark — a trace
  4. object — an aim
  5. charge — electricity
  6. object — to protest
  7. charge — in control
  8. pop — soda
  9. net — for catching
  10. branch — a division
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. net — after costs
  13. object — a thing
  14. spring — the season
  15. charge — a price
  16. cold — an illness
  17. net — in sport
  18. pop — to visit
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pop — music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mark — a grade
  24. branch — of a bank

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