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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. shower — rain
  6. drill — the tool
  7. shower — to wash
  8. mine — for digging
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. last — to go on
  18. spring — the season
  19. stand — to bear
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. plane — a 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