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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — of water
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — for sport
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. present — a gift
  14. wound — an injury
  15. present — there
  16. shower — to wash
  17. field — a subject
  18. present — the time now
  19. field — farmland
  20. shower — rain
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spring — the season
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wound — an injury

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