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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chest — of your body
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chest — a box
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — completely
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wake — a trail
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. temple — side of the head

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