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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. pop — soda
  2. rash — hasty
  3. staff — employees
  4. spring — of water
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. pop — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rash — a series
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pop — to visit
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — a stick
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. spring — the season
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — a line
  23. clip — to cut
  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