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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: cell · cold · game · bear · spring · board · march · present

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. game — a match
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cell — in biology
  10. present — there
  11. board — a committee
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spring — the season
  14. march — the month
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. spring — a coil
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. march — music
  20. board — to get on
  21. present — a gift
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bear — the animal
  24. present — the time now

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