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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rock — a stone
  4. mine — for digging
  5. ground — the earth
  6. file — a document
  7. craft — a skill
  8. rock — music
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. ground — crushed
  13. spring — of water
  14. ground — a position
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — boats
  17. file — a tool
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. spring — the season
  24. lash — an eyelash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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