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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 · staff · face · present · ground · rock · scale · rest

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. face — to point toward
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — employees
  5. rock — music
  6. face — to confront
  7. present — there
  8. present — a gift
  9. ground — a position
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. face — part of the head
  13. scale — size or range
  14. ground — crushed
  15. spring — the season
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. staff — a stick
  19. present — the time now
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. spring — a coil
  23. rock — a stone
  24. ground — the earth

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