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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. spell — magic
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. spell — a short time
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. field — for sport
  9. dip — to sink
  10. charge — a price
  11. wake — a trail
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — in control
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. field — a subject
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. spell — letters
  20. field — farmland
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. dip — a sauce

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