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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 120 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: season · present · cell · spring · key · cold · dip · bear

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. key — for a lock
  3. season — of the year
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to sink
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — of water
  12. bear — the animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. present — a gift
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. season — in sport
  18. present — there
  19. cold — not warm
  20. key — the most important part
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. key — in music
  24. spring — a coil

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