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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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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bear — the animal
  4. game — a match
  5. spring — the season
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. net — after costs
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. spring — of water
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bear — the animal
  14. file — a tool
  15. net — in sport
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. bear — to put up with

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