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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. spring — of water
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fine — all right
  10. fine — high quality
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spell — letters
  14. bat — the animal
  15. board — to get on
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — magic
  18. tube — the underground
  19. shower — rain
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. tube — a container
  23. stem — to come from
  24. board — a committee

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