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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 120 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. ball — a great time
  3. bass — the fish
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bass — low music
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ball — a dance
  10. club — for dancing
  11. club — for golf
  12. mine — for digging
  13. ground — a position
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. spring — a coil
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. club — a group
  20. spring — the season
  21. ground — the earth
  22. perch — the fish
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. saw — the tool

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