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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. ground — crushed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. drill — army training
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. spring — a coil
  12. drill — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. spring — of water
  16. game — a match
  17. ground — the earth
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — there
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. present — the time now
  22. spring — the season
  23. drill — a practice
  24. squash — the vegetable

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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