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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spring — the season
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spring — of water
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — moving air
  7. plane — a tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. hand — help
  12. chest — of your body
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. chest — a box
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spring — a coil
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cell — in biology
  21. fine — all right
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fine — high quality
  24. cell — in a prison

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