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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. land — ground
  3. lean — to bend
  4. spring — of water
  5. fall — to drop
  6. land — a country
  7. present — there
  8. land — to come down
  9. present — a gift
  10. rock — music
  11. spring — a coil
  12. rock — a stone
  13. spell — letters
  14. row — a line
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. fall — the season
  19. row — to paddle
  20. present — the time now
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spell — a short time
  23. lean — thin
  24. spell — magic

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