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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 124 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 chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. game — wild animals
  4. spring — the season
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rule — a law
  8. club — for golf
  9. fine — all right
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. rock — a stone
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. file — a tool
  14. rule — government
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. club — for dancing
  17. file — a document
  18. rock — music
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fine — high quality
  21. game — a match
  22. club — a group
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rock — to move gently

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