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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. 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 — of water
  2. staff — employees
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. spring — the season
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. staff — employees
  8. band — a music group
  9. rash — a series
  10. band — a ring
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pound — a weight
  17. staff — a stick
  18. 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