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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. row — a line
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. spring — of water
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. spring — a coil
  11. game — a match
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — boats
  14. craft — a skill
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. chest — a box
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. ground — a position
  19. game — wild animals
  20. row — to paddle
  21. ground — the earth
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — of your body
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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