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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. shower — to wash
  3. spring — of water
  4. spell — magic
  5. board — a committee
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. spell — letters
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. clip — a video
  13. spell — a short time
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. game — a match
  16. clip — to cut
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. game — wild animals
  19. board — to get on
  20. spring — a coil
  21. shower — rain
  22. clip — for paper
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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