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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bank — for money
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spring — a coil
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — a country
  9. bank — of a river
  10. fall — the season
  11. land — ground
  12. fall — to drop
  13. root — the cause
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. staff — a stick
  17. root — of a plant
  18. bank — for money
  19. spring — of water
  20. shower — rain
  21. clip — a video
  22. staff — employees
  23. land — to come down
  24. root — of a word

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