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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. swing — in golf
  3. land — ground
  4. rock — a stone
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. spring — the season
  8. bear — the animal
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. branch — a division
  13. swing — to play on
  14. rock — music
  15. swing — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. land — a country
  18. bear — the animal
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. spring — a coil
  22. land — to come down
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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