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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 120 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. swing — in golf
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. spring — the season
  6. fork — in a road
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a word
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rush — hurry
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. root — of a plant
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. swing — to play on
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. swing — music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bulb — for light

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