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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bass — low music
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. spring — of water
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — the fish
  9. land — a country
  10. tube — a container
  11. land — to come down
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. field — farmland
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. tube — the underground
  16. hand — help
  17. land — ground
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. deal — to handle
  21. spring — a coil
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spring — the season

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