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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. net — in sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. net — after costs
  7. staff — a stick
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. staff — employees
  10. pop — music
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. staff — employees
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bear — the animal
  20. spring — a coil
  21. fork — in a road
  22. spring — the season
  23. bear — the animal
  24. net — for catching

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