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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. snap — to click
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pop — music
  7. present — there
  8. present — a gift
  9. hand — in cards
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. pop — soda
  13. pop — to visit
  14. spring — a coil
  15. row — to paddle
  16. lean — thin
  17. spring — the season
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. present — the time now
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hand — help
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. row — a line

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