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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 116 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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. spring — of water
  3. ground — crushed
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. ground — the earth
  6. spring — a coil
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. game — a match
  9. spell — magic
  10. chip — to eat
  11. game — wild animals
  12. rest — what's left
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rest — what's left
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. spell — letters
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. snap — to click
  21. rest — a break
  22. ground — a position
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spell — a short time

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