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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. game — a match
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. bat — the animal
  8. saw — the tool
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. saw — the tool
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spring — of water
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ball — a great time
  22. ball — a dance
  23. fork — in a road
  24. ball — a round shape

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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