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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. content — happy
  5. saw — the tool
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wind — moving air
  10. game — a match
  11. board — to get on
  12. game — wild animals
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spring — the season
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — the amount
  18. board — a committee
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. shower — rain
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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