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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 120 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: fork · mine · spring · rash · snap · staff · cell · tube

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spring — the season
  3. mine — for digging
  4. tube — the underground
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — employees
  8. rash — a series
  9. staff — a stick
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — of water
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. rash — hasty
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cell — in biology
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. fork — in a road

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