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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spring — a coil
  5. hand — help
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. present — a gift
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. spring — the season
  12. present — there
  13. present — the time now
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. plane — a tool

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