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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. cue — for pool
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. track — to keep track
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. track — a song
  8. spring — a coil
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mug — to rob
  11. track — a path
  12. cue — a hint
  13. mug — a face
  14. cue — a signal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — a video
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mine — for digging
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — for paper

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