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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. last — final
  4. land — ground
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. swing — in golf
  8. spring — a coil
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — a series
  11. spring — the season
  12. last — finally
  13. swing — to play on
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. rash — hasty
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. swing — music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. sharp — clever
  21. last — to go on
  22. lie — to recline
  23. perch — the fish
  24. sharp — exactly

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