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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. spring — the season
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. bark — to shout
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. ball — a dance
  9. fall — the season
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. fall — to drop
  14. branch — a division
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ball — a great time
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. saw — the tool
  24. branch — of a tree

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