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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. game — a match
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. roll — a list
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. saw — the tool
  9. snap — to click
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. game — wild animals
  12. stem — to come from
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. saw — the tool
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. spring — of water
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mate — a partner
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. roll — a cake

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