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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. land — ground
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. land — a country
  6. row — to paddle
  7. game — a match
  8. prune — to trim
  9. drill — army training
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pass — a permit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. row — a line
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. land — to come down
  17. spring — the season
  18. game — wild animals
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. spring — of water
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. prune — the fruit

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