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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. lean — to bend
  3. spring — a coil
  4. net — in sport
  5. spring — of water
  6. staff — employees
  7. net — after costs
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bound — obliged
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bound — tied together
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. present — there
  16. lean — thin
  17. spring — the season
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. present — a gift
  21. net — for catching
  22. bound — certain
  23. present — the time now
  24. straw — dry grass

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