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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. spring — the season
  6. current — happening now
  7. game — a match
  8. kid — child
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. current — of water
  11. cell — in biology
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — the animal
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. current — electric
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. kid — to tease
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cell — a phone
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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