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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. saw — the tool
  4. track — a path
  5. land — to come down
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. track — a song
  12. rock — a stone
  13. snap — to click
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — of water
  16. rock — music
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. track — to keep track
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bear — the animal
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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