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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. last — final
  7. prune — to trim
  8. row — to paddle
  9. content — the amount
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. last — to go on
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mine — for digging
  14. content — happy
  15. spring — the season
  16. row — a line
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. last — finally
  19. spring — a coil
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. prune — to trim
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. temple — side of the head

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