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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. kid — child
  5. land — to come down
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. land — a country
  8. pop — music
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. spring — of water
  12. craft — a skill
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pop — soda
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pop — to visit
  17. land — ground
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wake — a trail
  23. craft — boats
  24. prune — the fruit

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