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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · hide · cell · row · present · object · drill · snap

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — the tool
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. spring — of water
  9. row — a line
  10. object — to protest
  11. cell — a phone
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. present — a gift
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. spring — the season
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. drill — army training
  20. cell — in biology
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. present — there
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. row — to paddle

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