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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. spring — of water
  3. field — a subject
  4. toast — bread
  5. staff — employees
  6. chest — of your body
  7. club — for dancing
  8. spring — the season
  9. field — for sport
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. spring — a coil
  12. club — for golf
  13. staff — employees
  14. chest — a box
  15. club — a group
  16. chest — of your body
  17. staff — a stick
  18. field — farmland

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