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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 120 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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fine — all right
  4. game — wild animals
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. band — a music group
  9. row — a line
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. fine — high quality
  12. key — the most important part
  13. spring — a coil
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. row — to paddle
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. spring — of water
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. game — a match
  24. fine — a penalty

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