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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. spring — a coil
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — a video
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. mug — a cup
  13. spring — the season
  14. kid — child
  15. mug — a face
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. mug — to rob
  23. kid — to tease
  24. foot — a measure

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