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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bass — low music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mate — a partner
  7. craft — boats
  8. mate — to breed
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. craft — a skill
  11. foot — a measure
  12. bass — the fish
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. land — a country
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. spring — of water
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. mate — a friend
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. land — ground
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. cold — not warm

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