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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. spring — of water
  3. net — after costs
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. net — for catching
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. scale — in music
  8. net — in sport
  9. staff — employees
  10. spring — the season
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. field — for sport
  15. staff — employees
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. field — farmland
  19. staff — a stick
  20. rush — hurry
  21. field — a subject
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spring — a coil

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