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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. spring — of water
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. spring — the season
  7. snap — to click
  8. rest — a break
  9. season — of the year
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. rock — music
  13. chest — a box
  14. rash — hasty
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rash — a series
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — a coil
  22. season — in sport
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. rock — a stone

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