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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. band — a ring
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. band — a music group
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. sharp — clever
  17. land — ground
  18. cue — a signal
  19. cue — for pool
  20. hand — help
  21. cue — a hint
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. wave — of the sea

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