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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. perch — the fish
  5. club — a group
  6. spring — the season
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. net — in sport
  9. tube — the underground
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. net — after costs
  13. club — for golf
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. net — for catching
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. tube — a container
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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