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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. spring — of water
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wound — an injury
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wound — an injury
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cell — in biology
  14. spring — a coil
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. file — a tool
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. spring — the season
  19. cell — a phone
  20. file — a document
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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