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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. staff — a stick
  3. hand — help
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. chip — for betting
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. chip — to eat
  13. lie — to recline
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — the season
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. hand — in cards

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