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

Word bank: bat · spring · ruler · present · snap · bank · cold · fall

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. spring — the season
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bank — for money
  6. spring — of water
  7. present — a gift
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bank — of a river
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bank — for money
  18. present — there
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to click
  21. present — the time now
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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