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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. field — a subject
  4. pop — soda
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. pop — to visit
  9. rash — hasty
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — for sport
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. mate — to breed
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pop — music
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. field — farmland
  19. foot — a measure
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. rash — a series
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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