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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. spring — of water
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. net — after costs
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. track — a song
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. net — for catching
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. date — the fruit
  16. track — a path
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. spring — the season
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. net — in sport
  21. ground — a position
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. patient — a sick person

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