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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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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rest — what's left
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — a city
  8. row — a line
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. capital — money
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spring — of water
  20. pound — a weight
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bark — to shout
  24. rest — a break

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