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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. fork — in a road
  3. row — a line
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. present — there
  24. spring — the season

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