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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. club — a group
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. spell — magic
  5. root — the cause
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. row — a line
  12. root — of a word
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bat — the animal
  16. root — of a plant
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. game — wild animals
  19. row — to paddle
  20. club — for golf
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. club — for dancing
  24. saw — the tool

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