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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. spring — a coil
  3. drill — a practice
  4. wind — moving air
  5. track — to keep track
  6. cold — an illness
  7. track — a path
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. chest — a box
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. charge — in control
  14. charge — electricity
  15. charge — a price
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lie — to recline
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. track — a song
  24. spring — of water

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