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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. spring — the season
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. tear — from crying
  5. spring — of water
  6. game — a match
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. swing — to play on
  10. face — to confront
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bound — tied together
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bound — certain
  17. tear — from crying
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. bound — obliged
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. tear — to rip
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spring — a coil
  24. trunk — of a tree

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