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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. spring — of water
  5. club — for dancing
  6. rush — hurry
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. land — a country
  11. club — a group
  12. land — ground
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wax — to grow
  16. club — for golf
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. chest — a box
  21. land — to come down
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. spring — the season

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