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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — the fruit
  4. spring — a coil
  5. craft — boats
  6. tube — the underground
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. craft — a skill
  9. bass — low music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. spring — the season
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. tube — a container
  15. bass — the fish
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop

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