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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spring — of water
  5. scale — in music
  6. mate — to breed
  7. chip — to eat
  8. hand — help
  9. chip — for betting
  10. spring — the season
  11. mate — a friend
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bear — the animal
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ball — a dance
  22. prune — to trim
  23. scale — size or range
  24. hand — part of the body

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