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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. spring — a coil
  4. race — humankind
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. drill — army training
  11. scale — in music
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — the arms race
  17. row — to paddle
  18. scale — size or range
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spring — of water
  23. row — a line
  24. trunk — of a tree

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