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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bound — tied together
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pound — a weight
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. spring — of water
  12. hand — in cards
  13. clip — a video
  14. mark — a grade
  15. hand — help
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bound — certain
  24. deal — to handle

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