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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. face — to point toward
  3. snap — to click
  4. kid — child
  5. root — of a word
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. root — the cause
  8. spring — the season
  9. kid — to tease
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. bulb — for light
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bulb — for light
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to confront
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mark — a grade
  21. rest — a break
  22. mark — a trace
  23. root — of a plant
  24. rest — what's left

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