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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ground — crushed
  3. spring — of water
  4. wound — an injury
  5. ground — a position
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. rock — music
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. spring — a coil
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. drill — the tool
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rock — a stone
  21. drill — army training
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wound — an injury
  24. drill — a practice

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