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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. land — a country
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bore — to tire
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. land — ground
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bore — to drill
  10. lie — to recline
  11. field — farmland
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. land — to come down
  17. field — for sport
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the fish
  20. field — a subject
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  24. spring — the season

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