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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. file — a document
  3. spell — a short time
  4. last — finally
  5. spell — magic
  6. hand — help
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — the sport
  9. root — of a plant
  10. spell — letters
  11. last — to go on
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. file — a line of people
  14. root — of a word
  15. spring — of water
  16. hand — in cards
  17. file — a tool
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spring — a coil
  20. last — final
  21. root — the cause
  22. kid — to tease
  23. squash — to crush
  24. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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