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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. field — for sport
  4. mate — to breed
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. snap — to click
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. mate — a friend
  14. field — a subject
  15. spring — the season
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hand — in cards
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — help
  22. mate — a partner
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — a jug

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