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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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: wave · cold · mug · spring · arm · land · wound · leaves

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. spring — of water
  3. mug — a face
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. land — a country
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. land — ground
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. spring — the season
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. mug — to rob
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — not warm
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. mug — a cup
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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