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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. 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. hand — help
  2. current — happening now
  3. spring — of water
  4. club — for golf
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. current — electric
  7. spring — the season
  8. root — of a word
  9. hand — in cards
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. current — of water
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. club — for dancing
  14. root — the cause
  15. club — a group
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — bread
  18. shower — to wash
  19. mine — for digging
  20. root — of a plant
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. shower — rain
  24. 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