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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. spell — letters
  3. spring — the season
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. spring — of water
  6. ball — a dance
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spell — a short time
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a hat
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ball — a great time
  21. net — after costs
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. spell — magic

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