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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 124 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. file — a tool
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. pop — music
  7. branch — a division
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. file — a line of people
  11. tube — a container
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. tube — the underground
  14. spring — the season
  15. snap — to click
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pop — soda
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. sharp — clever
  21. file — a document
  22. rest — a break
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pop — to visit

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