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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: chest · wound · bass · spring · safe · cold · cabinet · tube

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. spring — the season
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. spring — a coil
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wound — an injury
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. bass — the fish
  18. tube — a container
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. chest — a box
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bass — low music
  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