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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. net — in sport
  4. track — a path
  5. tear — to rip
  6. spring — the season
  7. track — to keep track
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — a container
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tear — from crying
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — for catching
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. tear — from crying
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. season — of the year
  23. track — a song
  24. season — in sport

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