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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spring — of water
  4. row — a line
  5. swing — to play on
  6. shower — rain
  7. spring — a coil
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. stock — goods
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. bat — the animal
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stock — shares
  15. swing — in golf
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. row — to paddle
  20. shower — to wash
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. swing — music

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