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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. squash — the sport
  4. spring — the season
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chest — of your body
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cap — a lid
  12. charge — a price
  13. chest — a box
  14. cap — of ice
  15. charge — in control
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — help
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spring — a coil
  20. hand — in cards
  21. field — a subject
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wind — moving air
  24. charge — electricity

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