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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: spring · straw · cold · prune · last · cabinet · chest · fine

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. chest — a box
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fine — high quality
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cold — an illness
  8. prune — to trim
  9. last — finally
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. last — final
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. chest — of your body
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fine — all right
  24. last — to go on

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