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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. land — a country
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spell — a short time
  5. tube — a container
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — letters
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. spring — of water
  17. tube — the underground
  18. land — to come down
  19. spring — the season
  20. chair — a leader
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. spell — magic

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