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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — the season
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. staff — employees
  9. spring — of water
  10. ground — the earth
  11. rest — a break
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. staff — employees
  14. spring — a coil
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — in sport
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rest — what's left
  22. season — of the year
  23. ground — a position
  24. branch — a division

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