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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  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. lean — to bend
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. hand — help
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. roll — a cake
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — letters
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — a lid
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. roll — a list
  17. cap — of ice
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. lean — thin
  20. spell — a short time
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. lean — to rest against
  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