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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. bass — the fish
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bass — low music
  9. spring — a coil
  10. drill — army training
  11. tear — to rip
  12. sharp — clever
  13. pop — soda
  14. tear — from crying
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pop — music
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. drill — a practice
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. pop — to visit

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