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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bore · mine · season · spell · scale · mug · shower · spring

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mug — a face
  4. spell — magic
  5. spring — the season
  6. spell — letters
  7. season — in sport
  8. mug — a cup
  9. scale — size or range
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bore — to drill
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. shower — to wash
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mug — to rob
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spring — a coil
  21. shower — rain
  22. spring — of water
  23. scale — in music
  24. bore — to tire

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