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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. spring — of water
  4. land — to come down
  5. row — to paddle
  6. ground — crushed
  7. row — a line
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. ground — a position
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. shower — rain
  16. spring — the season
  17. shower — to wash
  18. object — an aim
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — a thing
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. land — a country
  23. land — ground
  24. patient — a sick person

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