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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. spring — of water
  3. rush — hurry
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bark — to shout
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. spring — the season
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. staff — employees
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — moving air
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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