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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spring — the season
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. mine — for digging
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. shower — rain
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. land — a country
  22. content — happy
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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