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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tear — to rip
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spring — the season
  8. file — a line of people
  9. tear — from crying
  10. land — ground
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a document
  14. tear — from crying
  15. land — a country
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. file — a tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. branch — a division
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spring — a coil
  24. branch — of a tree

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