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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rock — music
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. clip — to cut
  8. land — a country
  9. root — of a word
  10. spell — letters
  11. root — of a plant
  12. rock — a stone
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spring — of water
  18. bass — the fish
  19. clip — a video
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. spell — magic
  22. bass — low music
  23. clip — for paper
  24. root — the cause

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