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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. land — ground
  3. last — final
  4. shower — rain
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. drill — the tool
  7. land — to come down
  8. can — a tin
  9. pop — music
  10. drill — a practice
  11. last — to go on
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. can — to be able to
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — the season
  16. wind — moving air
  17. shower — to wash
  18. can — a tin
  19. last — finally
  20. pop — to visit
  21. drill — army training
  22. land — a country
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pop — soda

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