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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rest · racket · mine · last · dip · cold · spring · pit

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pit — a hole
  10. last — final
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. rest — a break
  15. pit — in a race
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — finally
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — of water
  21. dip — to sink
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. spring — the season
  24. last — to go on

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