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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. game — a match
  3. spring — of water
  4. root — of a plant
  5. saw — the tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. dip — to sink
  8. spring — a coil
  9. saw — the tool
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hand — help
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. shower — to wash
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. root — the cause
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. root — of a word
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. spring — the season
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. coach — a trainer

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