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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. chest — a box
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. shower — to wash
  11. track — a song
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. track — to keep track
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. track — a path
  20. spring — the season
  21. shower — rain
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chest — of your body

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