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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tear — from crying
  3. present — the time now
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. tear — from crying
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spring — a coil
  8. present — there
  9. rock — music
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. bat — the animal
  13. root — of a plant
  14. rock — a stone
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. root — the cause
  18. tear — to rip
  19. root — of a word
  20. present — a gift
  21. spring — the season
  22. row — a line
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. branch — a division

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