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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 · bowl · mug · cold · sharp · leaves · mark · spring

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. spring — of water
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. spring — the season
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spring — a coil
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. wound — an injury
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mug — a face
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mug — to rob
  21. cold — an illness
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. mark — a grade
  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