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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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. staff — employees
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. dip — to sink
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. spring — of water
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — a line
  13. staff — employees
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. row — to paddle
  18. staff — a stick
  19. bass — the fish
  20. spring — a coil
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. dip — a sauce

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