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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. pop — music
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. spring — the season
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pop — to visit
  8. land — ground
  9. game — a match
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. land — to come down
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. pop — soda
  14. deal — to handle
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. drill — the tool
  18. spell — letters
  19. drill — a practice
  20. spell — magic
  21. drill — army training
  22. game — wild animals
  23. spring — of water
  24. land — a country

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