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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. staff — a stick
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. shower — rain
  9. mug — to rob
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. present — there
  12. staff — employees
  13. mug — a cup
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. land — ground
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. mug — a face
  18. spring — the season
  19. staff — employees
  20. present — the time now
  21. shower — to wash
  22. present — a gift
  23. land — a country
  24. straw — a straw man

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