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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bark — to shout
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. spring — the season
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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