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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. staff — employees
  3. wound — an injury
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. roll — a list
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. perch — the fish
  11. roll — a cake
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bat — the animal
  16. staff — a stick
  17. wound — an injury
  18. staff — employees
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. spring — of water
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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