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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 120 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. spring — of water
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. shower — rain
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bound — tied together
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. kid — child
  14. season — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — certain
  18. lean — thin
  19. spring — the season
  20. tube — a container
  21. pound — a weight
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. spring — a coil

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