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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. spring — the season
  6. mug — a face
  7. pit — a hole
  8. spring — a coil
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. net — in sport
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mug — to rob
  14. mug — a cup
  15. scale — in music
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pit — in a race
  18. scale — size or range
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wound — an injury
  21. net — for catching
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. net — after costs

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