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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. shower — rain
  4. field — for sport
  5. pound — a weight
  6. field — a subject
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. field — farmland
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — a coil
  21. shower — to wash
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. game — wild animals
  24. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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