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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. net — in sport
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. row — a line
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. foot — a measure
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. row — to paddle
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. wake — a trail
  20. spring — the season
  21. dip — to sink
  22. plane — a tool
  23. net — after costs
  24. plane — in geometry

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