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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  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. club — for golf
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. spring — a coil
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. club — for dancing
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. club — a group
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. cold — an illness
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rush — hurry
  21. snap — to click
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spring — the season
  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