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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spring — of water
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. land — to come down
  7. ground — a position
  8. pop — to visit
  9. firm — a company
  10. land — a country
  11. firm — steady
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cell — in biology
  14. firm — decided
  15. pop — soda
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — ground
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. ground — crushed
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pop — music

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