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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — a coil
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. land — a country
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. bore — to tire
  13. bore — to drill
  14. prune — to trim
  15. land — to come down
  16. squash — the sport
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. land — ground
  21. squash — to crush
  22. drill — a practice
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. fan — a supporter

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