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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. perch — the fish
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bark — to shout
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spring — the season
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. mate — to breed
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mate — a friend
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. mate — a partner
  24. nail — for a hammer

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