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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. kid — to tease
  3. game — wild animals
  4. club — for golf
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. file — a line of people
  7. club — a group
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. sharp — clever
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — of a plant
  13. kid — child
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. game — a match
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. vault — a safe
  19. root — the cause
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. club — for dancing

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