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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. snap — to click
  7. clip — to cut
  8. drill — the tool
  9. shower — to wash
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. hand — help
  15. shower — rain
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. drill — a practice
  18. clip — for paper
  19. row — a line
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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