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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: wound · stick · jam · face · row · spring · rock · cold

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cold — not warm
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wound — an injury
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rock — music
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. row — a line
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. face — to confront
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rock — a stone
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. cold — an illness

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