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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. object — a thing
  8. board — to get on
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spring — the season
  12. cap — a lid
  13. object — an aim
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. field — farmland
  16. object — to protest
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cap — a hat
  19. clip — a video
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. board — a committee
  22. cap — of ice
  23. field — for sport
  24. spring — a coil

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