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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. spring — the season
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. stem — to come from
  9. firm — a company
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. march — music
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. march — the month
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. march — the month
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. spring — a coil
  19. firm — decided
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. spring — of water

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