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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. spring — the season
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. date — the fruit
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. file — a line of people
  15. field — for sport
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a document
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. file — a tool
  21. field — farmland
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — help
  24. fork — in a road

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