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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. land — to come down
  4. bank — for money
  5. land — a country
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rest — what's left
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — of water
  10. land — ground
  11. bank — for money
  12. object — a thing
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spring — the season
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. hand — help
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — of a word
  20. bank — of a river
  21. root — the cause
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. root — of a plant
  24. game — a match

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