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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mate — to breed
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. chest — of your body
  11. track — to keep track
  12. spring — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bat — the animal
  16. track — a path
  17. mate — a partner
  18. spring — a coil
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. track — a song
  22. chest — a box
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mate — a friend

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