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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — clever
  4. hand — help
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. ball — a great time
  9. hand — in cards
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. bass — low music
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. bass — the fish
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mark — a trace
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bass — the instrument

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