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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: ball · chest · cold · spring · scale · cap · plane · bound

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. scale — in music
  3. bound — obliged
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — a box
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — of water
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bound — certain
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ball — a dance
  15. chest — of your body
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cap — of ice
  19. plane — a tool
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bound — tied together
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. cold — the Cold War

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