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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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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. spring — the season
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. track — a song
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. track — to keep track
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. fall — the season
  16. bulb — for light
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fall — to drop
  22. track — a path
  23. bulb — for light
  24. spring — of water

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