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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 · band · mine · shower · spell · ground · mark · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. mark — a trace
  3. spring — a coil
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — letters
  6. ground — a position
  7. spring — of water
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mark — a grade
  10. band — a music group
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spell — magic
  13. mine — for digging
  14. band — a ring
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — crushed
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. spell — a short time
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. spring — the season

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