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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. season — of the year
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. spring — the season
  5. scale — size or range
  6. season — in sport
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. stock — shares
  10. snap — to click
  11. spring — a coil
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. board — to get on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — a committee
  17. field — farmland
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. field — for sport
  20. scale — in music
  21. field — a subject
  22. stock — goods
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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