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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — of water
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. ground — the earth
  5. spring — a coil
  6. prune — to trim
  7. present — there
  8. mark — a trace
  9. ground — a position
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spring — the season
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. present — a gift
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mark — a grade
  24. present — the time now

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