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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 116 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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. scale — in music
  3. rash — a series
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bank — for money
  8. row — a line
  9. scale — size or range
  10. degree — temperature
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. spring — a coil
  15. rash — hasty
  16. degree — an amount
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. row — to paddle
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bank — for money
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bank — of a river
  23. spring — the season
  24. row — a quarrel

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