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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — the season
  3. craft — a skill
  4. swing — music
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. land — ground
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. craft — boats
  12. swing — to play on
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. swing — in golf
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. land — to come down
  20. spring — a coil
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — a country

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