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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — a series
  3. ball — a great time
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rule — a law
  6. present — there
  7. present — a gift
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — hasty
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. chest — a box
  12. rule — government
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fine — all right
  15. spring — the season
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. present — the time now
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. fine — high quality
  21. ball — a dance
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spring — a coil

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