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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. spring — of water
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. spell — magic
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. hand — in cards
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. row — a line
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stand — to bear
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spell — a short time
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. hand — help
  22. spell — letters
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. row — to paddle

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