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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. hand — help
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. field — farmland
  6. fall — the season
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. field — for sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. bore — to tire
  13. field — a subject
  14. spring — of water
  15. bore — to drill
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — hurry
  19. spring — the season
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fall — to drop
  24. bore — gave birth

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