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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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Word bank
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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: game · spring · wind · cold · rush · ball · rock · content

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  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. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. game — a match
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a great time
  9. spring — of water
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. content — happy
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — hurry
  18. ball — a dance
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. spring — the season
  22. rock — a stone
  23. rock — music
  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