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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. spring — the season
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spring — of water
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. spell — magic
  10. row — a line
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. rest — a break
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — farmland
  15. rest — what's left
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spell — letters
  22. drill — army training
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spring — a coil

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