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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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. hand — help
  4. chair — a leader
  5. object — an aim
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. craft — boats
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. object — a thing
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lie — to recline
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. object — to protest
  21. craft — a skill
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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