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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. staff — employees
  7. drill — a practice
  8. race — the arms race
  9. court — of law
  10. drill — the tool
  11. staff — a stick
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. spring — a coil
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spring — the season
  21. drill — army training
  22. race — humankind
  23. staff — employees
  24. spring — of water

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