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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bank — for money
  8. land — ground
  9. bass — low music
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bass — the fish
  12. ground — the earth
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spring — the season
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. land — a country
  18. club — a group
  19. bank — for money
  20. club — for golf
  21. ground — a position
  22. land — to come down
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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