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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. cue — for pool
  13. spring — of water
  14. row — a line
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cell — a phone
  18. row — to paddle
  19. game — a match
  20. vault — a safe
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cue — a signal
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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