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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. tear — from crying
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. swing — to play on
  5. swing — music
  6. object — an aim
  7. kid — to tease
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — the earth
  10. object — a thing
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — child
  13. tear — to rip
  14. ground — crushed
  15. object — to protest
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. swing — in golf
  24. ground — a position

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