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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. saw — the tool
  4. row — a line
  5. spring — of water
  6. game — wild animals
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. spell — a short time
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. key — the most important part
  11. saw — the tool
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pop — music
  14. spell — magic
  15. pop — to visit
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spring — the season
  18. game — a match
  19. key — in music
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. pop — soda
  22. spell — letters
  23. key — for a lock
  24. wound — an injury

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