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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. field — farmland
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. spring — a coil
  8. field — a subject
  9. game — a match
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. shower — to wash
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — in biology
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. rock — music
  18. pit — in a race
  19. game — wild animals
  20. rock — a stone
  21. field — for sport
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. pit — a hole
  24. cell — a phone

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