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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spell — magic
  3. cell — in biology
  4. hand — help
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. spring — the season
  8. rest — what's left
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cell — a phone
  11. tear — from crying
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rest — a break
  15. spell — letters
  16. hand — in cards
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spring — a coil
  24. foot — a measure

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