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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hand — help
  6. court — of a king
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — army training
  9. degree — temperature
  10. court — of law
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. court — for sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spell — magic
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. spell — a short time
  23. degree — from a university
  24. drill — the tool

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