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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. kid — to tease
  5. craft — boats
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. tear — from crying
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. spring — the season
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pound — a weight
  14. mate — a partner
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mate — a friend
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. craft — a skill
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. mate — to breed

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