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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. rash — a series
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — the season
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. bore — to drill
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. rash — hasty
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. net — in sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. ball — a dance
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hand — help
  20. saw — the tool
  21. ball — a great time
  22. net — for catching
  23. bore — to tire
  24. pitch — a sports field

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