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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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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 · land · mouse · roll · sharp · ground · bank · game

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spring — the season
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bank — for money
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. bank — for money
  14. game — a match
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. land — ground
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. bank — of a river
  20. game — wild animals
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. roll — a list
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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