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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. plane — a tool
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. land — ground
  6. deal — to handle
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. spring — of water
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. field — for sport
  11. bank — for money
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — an injury
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. shower — to wash
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — a subject
  19. spring — the season
  20. bank — of a river
  21. bank — for money
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. wound — an injury

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