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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 116 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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. fall — the season
  6. ground — the earth
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cell — a phone
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. cell — in biology
  11. spring — the season
  12. game — a match
  13. fall — to drop
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. bound — obliged
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — tied together
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fall — to drop

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