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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 116 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: band · spring · ground · mate · object · rock · cold · fall

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. ground — a position
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — not warm
  6. fall — the season
  7. ground — the earth
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. object — to protest
  10. rock — a stone
  11. spring — the season
  12. object — an aim
  13. ground — crushed
  14. band — a ring
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rock — music
  17. spring — of water
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. object — a thing
  21. fall — to drop
  22. band — a music group
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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