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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. spell — a short time
  5. hand — help
  6. kid — child
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. tear — from crying
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. spell — magic
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — of water
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. spell — letters
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stand — to bear
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bowl — to roll

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