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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rest — what's left
  3. spring — a coil
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. rest — a break
  8. bear — the animal
  9. spring — of water
  10. land — a country
  11. sharp — clever
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bear — the animal
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. land — to come down
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. spring — the season
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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